Storm
by Cyri's Alter Ego
Summary: Rainpaw, a kittypet brought up to respect the warrior code. With her mother dead, she discovers her birth Clan - and the life the Twolegs stole away from her.
1. Allegiences

**Well, I've decided to revisit my humble beginnings in the Warriors archive. It's high time to look over _Storm_, wince horribly, and then edit, edit, edit. If I remember rightly, last time around this was where I hyperly yelled at all of you, with the help of many exclamation marks, and probably left a lot of you brain-dead before you even started reading the story.**

**Well, I've changed around some of the stupider names in this (such as _Pinkpaw_ =shudders at own stupidity=) and hopefully, made it a better read.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Warriors. Erin Hunter does! (I've decided to keep my original disclaimers. I've grown fond of them.)**

Allegiances

WindClan

LEADER: Ashstar – grey tom with darker stripes.

DEPUTY: Rockfall – large brown tom. A strong, skilled fighter  
Apprentice - Cinderpaw

MEDICENE CAT: Sunspot – golden she-cat with green eyes  
Apprentice – Featherpaw

WARRIORS:

Dawnlight – tortoiseshell she-cat with deep blue eyes  
Apprentice – Branchpaw

Mayflower – pretty brown she-cat with yellow eyes  
Apprentice – Greenpaw

Roseheart – grey tabby tom with distinctive green eyes  
Apprentice – Bluepaw

Patchfur - black and white tom with green eyes  
Apprentice – Petalpaw

Wildheart – enthusiastic young brown tom.  
Apprentice – Rainpaw

Tigerface – dark furred tom

QUEENS:

Mistycloud – orange tabby with green eyes. Mother of Tawnykit and Nightkit

Sunfire – graceful tortoiseshell with yellow eyes. A strong fighter. Mother of Runningkit, Mosskit and Hawkkit

Redpelt – clever, dark she cat with amber eyes. Mother of Mudkit

APPRENTICES:

Cinderpaw – light orange tabby she-cat, like glowing cinders, mentored by Rockfall

Featherpaw – dark orange long furred she-cat with pale green eyes, medicine cat apprentice

Branchpaw – dark brown tom with amber eyes, mentored by Dawnlight

Greenpaw – small tortoiseshell tom with deep green eyes, mentored by Mayflower

Bluepaw – blueish grey tom, mentored by Roseheart

Petalpaw – grey she-cat with a pink nose, mentored by Patchfur

Rainpaw – black she-cat with yellow eyes. Former kittypet, mentored by Wildheart

ELDERS:

Shadefrost – white and black tom

Willowheart – small tortoiseshell she-cat. Former medicine cat

ShadowClan

LEADER: Cloudstar – haughty white tom with yellow eyes

DEPUTY: Redclaw – mottled, light reddish-brown she-cat

MEDICENE CAT: Foxleaf – small, pale grey tom with amber eyes

ThunderClan

LEADER: Mothstar – tawny she-cat

DEPUTY: Tawnyspots – white tom with ginger patches

MEDICENE CAT: Hawkeyes – brown tabby tom with piercing yellow eyes

RiverClan

LEADER: Bramblestar – dark brown tom with yellow eyes

DEPUTY: Ravenwing – black tom with amber eyes

MEDICENE CAT: Whitefur – white she-cat with blue eyes

Cats outside Clans

Stormcloud – Rainpaw's mother, was kidnapped by Twolegs and made to live as a kittypet

Max – grey tabby kitten that lives on the edge of Twolegplace. A kittypet.

Mist on Frosty Morning (Mist) – light grey tabby she-cat, exiled from the Tribe of Rushing Water


	2. Prologue

Prologue

The black kit curled her tail around her tiny body and shivered.

"Why do we have to be out here when it's so cold?" Her mew was no more than a squeak. She glanced back over her shoulder, to where light flooded out of their housefolk's nest. It looked warm and dry, but instead she and her mother were out here on the wet grass. The kit shifted uncomfortably.

The black and white she-cat answered her. She wasn't looking at her daughter, but instead, staring at the sky, her eyes reflected the stars strewn across it. "I need to give you a name by the light of StarClan. We may no longer belong to a Clan but we still follow the warrior code."

The black kit looked at her mother with yellow eyes as round as moons, her longing to leave this strange ceremony forgotten. "What's StarClan?"

"StarClan are our warrior ancestors. They watch over us from Silverpelt, the band of stars you see in the sky each night, and they appear in dreams of the Clan cats."

"Clan cats?"

"They are the groups of that dwell around the lake. Where I come from."

"You?" The kit looked at the cat eagerly, hoping for more.

The black and white she-cat's eyes flickered briefly to the young kit, and then returned to the sky. "Yes. I was captured by Twolegs. You were too, although you were too young to remember. I was weak… I had just given birth to you and two others. I never knew where they had gone."

Her eyes clouded with misery.

"What were the Clans?"

"Their names were WindClan, ShadowClan, ThunderClan, and RiverClan. ShadowClan hunted in the shadows of night, and you never knew when they would leap up on you. They were ferociously defensive of their territory. ThunderClan… well, they were brave, but in my opinion they were too soft, in the clearing of that forest they owned. RiverClan were sleek and well-fed. They ate fish from the lake and their territory was well defended. And WindClan…"

The black and white cat lapsed into silence, lost in thought.

"Yes?" mewed the kit, oblivious to her mother's emotions. "Tell me about WindClan."

"WindClan… was my Clan." replied the cat. Her voice was thick, as though she barely wanted to remember. "We were quick and loyal, and we were true to the end. Although we were fast to flee, our Clan did not go down easily in battle. We loved the outdoor air, and we lived in open moorland. I still remember the camp… it was a shallow scoop in the ground, open to the sky so we could see the warriors of StarClan. No sleeping in dens for us!"

"It sounds nice." The kit licked her paw and drew it across her ear. "What did you eat? Was it like what we eat?"

The black and white cat shook her head. "No. We caught and ate mice, rabbits, voles, and birds."

"Wow! Can you teach me how?" the kit squeaked. The black and white cat smiled.

"Yes. But now we need to have your naming ceremony." she reminded the kit. "Since you were a Clan cat, I shall give you a Clan name."

The black kit shivered in anticipation. This short talk had changed her feelings about this 'ceremony' completely.

"I call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this kit. She is no longer a part of Clan life, but the warrior code will stay in my heart always." She looked directly at the black kit. "Until you become six moons old, you will be known as Rainkit."

"Rainkit!" the kit couldn't help squealing her new name. She lifted her eyes to the silver moon, and the warriors of StarClan seemed to dance in the black backdrop of the sky.


	3. An Unexpected Prophecy

**DISCLAIMER: Give me an 'I'! Give me a 'DON'T'! Give me an 'OWN'! Give me a 'WARRIORS'! No, I'm joking, I don't like cheerleading… But I don't own Warriors.**

An Unexpected Prophecy

Rainpaw stared, the rain trickling down her black pelt. She didn't care that she was soaking – she couldn't even find the strength to flick her tail and expel the water from it. She could only stare at the dead figure of Stormcloud, her mother, as the rain washed the last traces of her sweet scent away.

She lowered her head and buried her muzzle in her mother's pelt.

"Thank you for teaching me so much." she murmured. "I will always be a warrior at heart now."

The monster that had hit Stormcloud hadn't even stopped. It had raced past as usual, kicking up rancid water under its round, black paws. Rainpaw bent lower and picked up Stormcloud by the scruff of her neck. She suddenly felt a strong rush of burning hate. This was all the Twolegs' fault! If they hadn't kidnapped Stormcloud and Rainpaw when Rainpaw was a kit, Stormcloud would still be alive in WindClan!

"And I would have had a proper apprenticeship…" Rainpaw murmured. She would never forget how much Stormcloud had wanted to keep the warrior code alive in her heart always – so much that she had taught her kittypet daughter all she knew. Now Rainpaw was a proper apprentice – well, as 'proper' as she could be under the circumstances - but she knew she could never really be a true warrior.

Rainpaw dragged her paws on the wet ground and thought about going back to her Twolegs – but who knew what they would do with her mother's body? _No_, Rainpaw decided, _now that Stormcloud is dead there is no reason to stay with Twolegs anymore_…

She dragged Stormcloud's body across open moorland and buried it near to a small, tumbling stream. Then Rainpaw lay down to keep vigil for her mother.

One star shone in the expanse of the darkening purple sky. _Is that you, Stormcloud?_ Rainpaw wondered. She hoped that her mother's spirit was going to go to StarClan. Her mother had always believed so strongly… As Rainpaw watched, more StarClan warriors appeared in the sky. Rainpaw's eyes itched with sleep, but she must stay awake. For the sake of Stormcloud…

Dawn was approaching when Rainpaw heard it. She caught a warm, open scent on the breeze – a scent that reminded her of moorland and thundering pawsteps. She looked around. There was no one there. But then Rainpaw heard a whisper in her ear, so clearly it sounded as though the cat was standing right next to her.

"Worry not, Rainpaw," the voice said. "I am safe, and my spirit has been returned to WindClan…"

"Who are you?" Rainpaw mewed, her eyes widening. But she didn't even need to ask – she knew that mew.

"I am Stormcloud, my dearest daughter…" the voice murmured, but it seemed to be fading. Rainpaw whipped around, her suspicions confirmed.

"_Stormcloud_?!" she mewed loudly. But now, Stormcloud's voice was coming back, deeper than before.

"A storm is coming…" she rasped. "A storm that will toss the Clans into turmoil. And it shall appear in the shape of one cat. A cat not from the Clans…"

Rainpaw cried, "What do you mean? Tell me what you mean, Stormcloud!"

But the scent was fading. Rainpaw tried to clutch hold of the scent, take it in, so that she would remember it forever more, and yowled to the lightening skies.

"No! Stormcloud! Wait! Tell me… I need to know more!" Rainpaw yowled. But there was no reply, only the gentle whisper of the early morning moor breeze.


	4. First Sighting

**DISCLAIMER: Erin Hunter owns Warriors, not me.**

First Sighting

Rainpaw took a shuddering breath.

"What..? I just...?" she muttered. She gave her chest a couple of quick licks to hide her confusion, although there was no cat there to _see_ her being confused. "StarClan…"

Trying to blame her wild imagination on her mother's death and wanting to see her again, Rainpaw let the morning sun soak into her damp fur. She stretched her legs and wondered what she should do.

_My Twolegs should be worried about me…_ she thought to herself. Then she shook herself. _No. They kidnapped me. There's no question of returning to them now Stormcloud is dead._

Rainpaw decided to catch some fresh-kill before doing anything else. It was a good thing that hunting was included in what her mother taught her. Horribly conscious of how her black pelt stood out like a smudge on the moor, she dropped into the hunting crouch, reminding herself to keep upwind.

Before long she scented a rabbit, and narrowed her eyes, trying to pinpoint it. There it was, nibbling a few blades of the sparse moorland grass. Rainpaw sprang and raced after the startled rabbit. Catching up to her prey, she pounced and killed it with a swift bite to the neck.

Purring in satisfaction, Rainpaw bent down to take a bite out of her meal. No cat could accuse her of being a bad hunter. Thanks to Stormcloud…

A new wave of grief washed over her, but she fought to overcome it. She had to decide what to do next. No Twolegs. Not if all of StarClan came down and begged her. That was certain. The only other option was… trying to return to WindClan.

Suddenly, there was a hiss from behind her. Rainpaw spun around, arching her back and fluffing out her tail as she saw two lean, feline shapes approaching her.

They both carried a similar scent to Stormcloud – WindClan scent, Rainpaw guessed. One, the larger she-cat, was brown with yellow eyes. The smaller tom was tortoiseshell with green eyes. They were both bristling, but Rainpaw noticed that the tom seemed to be bristling with excitement rather than hostility.

"What are _you_ doing here?" the she-cat hissed. Rainpaw shuddered as she saw the hard muscles etched under her pelt. If it came to a battle, there would be no doubt who won.

The tom gave a doubtful sniff. "She smells of Twolegs… but it's stale. From yesterday at least, I'd guess."

He looked expectantly up at the brown she-cat, who gave a nod. "So, I guess we're dealing with a kittypet here, are we?" she spat, flicking her tail disdainfully.

"I _was_ a kittypet," Rainpaw admitted, trying to stop herself from shaking. She needed to make a good impression on these cats if she wanted any chance of joining them. "But I don't think I want to lead that soft life anymore."

The she-cat didn't make any move to look less hostile, but the small tom's eyes were as round as full moons. He let his fur lie flat as he realised that Rainpaw was not a threat.

"Did _you _catch that?" he asked Rainpaw, nodding towards the remains of Rainpaw's meal. The she-cat rolled her eyes.

"Don't be silly, Greenpaw," she mewed. "Kittypets don't hunt."

"This one does," Rainpaw mewed boldly. The tom, Greenpaw, looked slightly convinced, but the brown cat muttered, "Fluke."

Rainpaw flattened her ears. She wouldn't let this coughed-up furball make a mockery out of _her_.

She dropped into the hunter's crouch and scented a rabbit. Sprinting after it, she made her kill in one bound and padded back with the catch in her jaws. Dropping it at the cats' paws, she smiled slightly at the annoyed look on the brown cat's face.

"Fine," the she-cat said grudgingly. "But that's our prey you're hunting, for your information."

"And you're welcome to it," replied Rainpaw politely, hurrying to correct her mistake. She pushed the rabbit towards the WindClan cats.

Greenpaw darted forward to take it, but Mayflower stopped him with a hiss. "We don't need _kittypets_ to do our hunting for us!"

"Okay, then I'll have it ba-"

"No, don't be a mousebrain, that's our prey!" spat Mayflower. Greenpaw stared at her incredulously, muttering something about 'waste of good prey'. Mayflower glared at him and changed the subject. "But where did you learn to hunt, kitty? And why are you so far from your nest?"

Rainpaw blinked. This was the best opportunity so far to give WindClan cats a chance to know who she was, and hopefully accept her into the Clan.

"My name is Rainpaw," she began. "So don't call me kitty." The brown cat nodded, but her tail-tip twitched with amusement. Rainpaw could see guarded curiosity in her yellow eyes, as if she was wondering why a kittypet would have a Clan name.

"I don't believe that you need to know our names," she mewed coolly, apparently trying to show that she was the one in control here.

"Well, I'm Greenpaw," interrupted the tortoiseshell tom, seeming undeterred by the brown she-cat's refusal to identify the two of them. "She's my mentor." The she-cat threw him an irritated look.

Rainpaw hid a purr, but she thought that the narrowing of the brown she-cat's eyes meant that she hadn't missed her whiskers twitching. Hastily, Rainpaw continued, "My mother taught me to hunt. She taught me all the things a Clan mentor would teach their apprentice. I know the warrior code, too. She even gave me a Clan name."

"How come your mother knew about that?" asked Greenpaw curiously. The brown she-cat gave her apprentice another disapproving look, but said nothing.

"Because…" Rainpaw whispered, "Her name was Stormcloud."

Greenpaw's mentor yelped as though she had stepped on a thorn. "_Stormcloud_?! But she was kidnapped by Twolegs! The Clan thought she was dead!" Her eyes glittered with realisation. "She's _alive_?!"

Rainpaw bowed her head. "Unfortunately, no. She… died last night. Struck down by a monster."

"And you were sitting vigil for her?" Greenpaw asked. This time his mentor made no sign to say that Greenpaw was out of line. Rainpaw nodded silently.

"But I don't know what to do now," she said quietly. Greenpaw swept his tail over Rainpaw's shoulders comfortingly.

"You have to come back to camp with us." he mewed, glaring at his mentor as though daring her to say different. "Right, Mayflower?"

"_What_?!" mewed his mentor in disbelief. "Look, not to offend you, kitty, I feel sorry for you, but we can't just march straight into camp with a kittypet! It's against the warrior code! Ashstar would shred my ears, if he didn't die laughing first!"

Greenpaw unsheathed his claws. "She's hardly a kittypet, her mother is Stormcloud! And _I'll_ stay with her, even if you won't." He was being so fiercely protective he seemed to have forgotten he was speaking to his mentor.

"I can't just leave you, you're my apprentice." Mayflower seemed to be debating with herself rather than Greenpaw. She let out a long sigh. "I think it's a mousebrained idea, but… alright."

Greenpaw's eyes lit up as Mayflower marched in front of them, presumably on the way back to camp. But stirrings of worry were forming in Rainpaw's belly. She could tell Mayflower didn't completely trust her – no, she could tell that Mayflower didn't trust her, full stop.

_How many other WindClan cats will be the same, or worse?_


	5. A Deathly Beginning

**DISCLAIMER: Erin Hunter owns Warriors, not me.**

A Deathly Beginning

On the way back to camp, Greenpaw chattered nonstop. It was a good distraction for Rainpaw, who tried to ignore the tense knot in her belly and focus on what he was saying.

"And I really like Petalpaw, but she can be irritating… you'll like her, though…" Greenpaw paused. "You don't talk much, do you?"

Rainpaw glanced at him. "Is that a bad thing?" she asked nervously. She was worried she might have made a bad impression on this friendly tortoiseshell, who was trying so hard to help her.

To Rainpaw's relief, Greenpaw shook his head. "No. I'm just used to other cats talking all the time. I usually have to speak loudly to make myself heard." He purred, and Rainpaw forced herself to do the same.

Mayflower, who had apparently been listening to everything, froze, her tail-tip twitching.

"Something's wrong," she said in a hushed voice. She turned, ducked under a thick barrier of thorns, and raced towards a shallow scoop in the moorland that Rainpaw hadn't noticed. Greenpaw swiftly followed his mentor and Rainpaw hurried after them, catching on the air the scent of many cats.

_The WindClan camp_, she thought with a fierce rush of mixed joy and apprehension. However, this feeling was quickly extinguished when she heard a terrible wail. Fear lent speed to her paws and Rainpaw rushed into the WindClan camp.

A group of cats were gathered in the centre of the hollow. Rainpaw could smell the fear-scent coming off them. She looked around for Mayflower or Greenpaw, and saw a large brown tom talking to Mayflower, gesturing angrily towards Rainpaw with his tail.

"…out of your mind, what's Ashstar going to think when he sees her here?" the brown tom hissed at Mayflower. He didn't seem to notice Rainpaw, who had crept close enough to eavesdrop.

"I know, Rockfall, I'm sorry," Mayflower bowed her head in shame. "Greenpaw was determined, you know how he gets. That's a terrible excuse, but I do have another one. You see…" She leaned closer and whispered something in his ear. The tom looked surprised.

"Well!" he mewed. "You'll have to see Ashstar about that. I'll let you off lightly. I was… fond of Stormcloud…" His eyes clouded. "But for now…" He looked over at the group of cats that had gathered. Rainpaw padded away until she was standing next to Greenpaw, who was on the outskirts of the group. She could see that his eyes were dulling with grief.

"What's going on?" she whispered softly. Greenpaw gestured with his tail, apparently too overcome to speak. Rainpaw looked past an orange tabby and saw what every cat was gazing at.

A grey cat, small enough to be an apprentice, was lying, unmoving, in the middle of the clearing. A long gash gaped from her back leg to her neck, stretching across her flank. It spilled blood onto the ground and stained the apprentice's fur a dark red. A golden she-cat was leaning over her.

"Featherpaw, fetch me more cobwebs!" she mewed urgently. A long-furred ginger apprentice hurried to a small hole in the moorland and emerged with a wad of cobwebs on her paw. The golden she-cat took them and hastily but carefully started applying them to the grey cat's wound, trying to stauch the blood's flow. A black-and-white tom hovered nearby.

"This is my fault, I'm her mentor… that fox jumped up on us and I didn't do anything…" he cried, flicking his tail back and forth.

"It's not your fault, Patchfur," soothed the ginger apprentice, Featherpaw, though Rainpaw could sense that she was troubled. "Any cat could have done the same. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Come on, I'll get you some thyme for the shock." She made as if to lead him away, but he shook her off, staring helplessly at the dying cat.

Suddenly the golden she-cat stepped back, and the determined glint in her green eyes was replaced by a look of grief.

"She has gone to hunt with StarClan," she murmured. A grey tom with dark stripes on his pelt pushed his muzzle into the dead apprentice's fur. One by one, each cat stepped forward and mimicked him, murmuring into her pelt.

_Sharing tongues for the final time,_ Rainpaw thought. Even though she had not known this unfortunate apprentice, she shared the Clan's grief.

"I wonder what Ashstar will do now," murmured Greenpaw from behind her.

"Who?" Rainpaw asked.

"That grey tom with dark grey stripes," Greenpaw nodded towards the cat who had shared tongues with the apprentice first. "He's the Clan leader, and Petalpaw's father. Petalpaw's the apprentice who just joined StarClan," he added, seeing the confused look on Rainpaw's face. His voice was strengthening, and he seemed to be regaining some of his confidence, although the horror of what he had just witnessed was all too clear.

Rainpaw watched Ashstar settle down next to Petalpaw's body, grooming her unmoving pelt. Other cats – the black-and-white tom, an orange tabby she-cat, and a blueish-grey apprentice – joined him in his mourning ritual.

"I'm going to my nest," Greenpaw said. "I think I'll sleep this off. Maybe I'll wake up and it'll all be a bad dream…"

"Okay, I'll come with you," Rainpaw agreed. The two crept across camp and Greenpaw settled down next to a sleeping brown tom. He had obviously missed Petalpaw's death, and Rainpaw certainly didn't envy the cat that was to break the news to him. Rainpaw hovered nearby.

"Where do I sleep?" she asked.

"Next to me, if you like," Greenpaw said, sounding more eager and like his usual self than he had since Petalpaw had died. Rainpaw's ears twitched in amusement, and he ducked his head, embarrassed by his forthright attitude. Rainpaw sat down and gave her chest a few licks.

"I'll sleep here then, shall I?" she mewed. Greenpaw looked up anxiously.

"Ah – I wouldn't." he meowed. "That's where Cinderpaw usually sleeps. And she won't thank you for-"

"Hey!" an annoyed voice mewed. "That's my spot!"

Rainpaw looked up to see a light orange tabby marching towards them. She leapt up and scurried away as though a dog were after her.

"Sorry!" she mewed hastily.

"So you should be!" the tabby shot back. "You don't have WindClan scent. Who are you?" Her eyes sparked. "Are you a prisoner?"

"No!" Greenpaw answered indignantly. "Sorry about Cinderpaw, Rainpaw," he apologised. "She's probably upset over Petalpaw. But that's no reason to go taking it out on Rainpaw!"

"Oh, Rainpaw, is it?" Cinderpaw's eyes glinted. "Well, Rainpaw, it seems you can't fight your own battles. What are you, a kittypet?"

Rainpaw was stung. "No!" she spat stiffly. Cinderpaw seemed to realise that she had touched a nerve.

"Okay, if you say so," she mewed in a would-be offhand way. She didn't meet Rainpaw's eyes, but her whiskers trembled as though she were amused. "Have fun tomorrow, kitty. Of course, it may all prove too much for you. Then you'll end up over there." She jerked her head towards Petalpaw's body. "Only no one will be sharing tongues with you. Because kittypets don't go to StarClan. And who would want to share tongues with you, anyway, kitty?"

"Ignore her," muttered Greenpaw. "Takes after her mother." He flicked his tail towards Mayflower, who was talking to the brown tom again.

Rainpaw turned away and lay down. It was still only sunhigh, but every cat seemed to be worn out after Petalpaw's death. And what Cinderpaw had said had struck her. What if, after all her life as a kittypet, she wasn't cut out to be a Clan cat? And how could StarClan accept her?


	6. Rainpaw's Acceptance

**DISCLAIMER: Erin Hunter owns Warriors, not me.**

Rainpaw's Acceptance

Rainpaw dreamt that night. She dreamt she was on the moorland, hunting… Rainpaw pounced on a plump rabbit, but it vanished between her paws. She spat in fury. "Mouse dung!"

Beneath the anger, there was also confusion. Her conscious mind knew that it was impossible for a rabbit to just disappear like that. Her mind was struggling to wake her – the scene began slipping away.

Suddenly a foreign scent caught her attention, and she saw a flash of light grey cross her path. It was too large to be prey – another cat? The ground seemed to be more solid now, and Rainpaw wondered whether the cat she could smell was from another Clan. But some instinct told her this cat was not of the Clans.

In a flash, Rainpaw remembered the prophecy. _A cat not of the Clans…_ at once, the cat appeared again. It turned, and Rainpaw saw the angry glint of its yellow eyes before all went black.

Rainpaw shuddered awake. It was dark now – still night, Rainpaw realized. All the apprentices were still asleep. Rainpaw was sorely tempted to collect some thorns from the bushes outside camp and give Cinderpaw a nice blanket – she still hadn't forgotten the kittypet jibe – but she resisted.

She stretched out her limbs and looked around the rest of camp. She felt a little unsure about it – barely three cats knew she was here; they were too upset about Petalpaw's death. A light wind ruffled Petalpaw's pelt; Rainpaw could see the four cats still gathered around it. They were still awake; Rainpaw could see the stars reflected in Ashstar's eyes as he grieved for his lost daughter.

Rainpaw silently padded around camp. She vaguely remembered her mother telling her that all the WindClan cats slept outside dens, so she was not surprised to see most of the Clan out in the open. This was obviously the warriors 'den', most of the cats here were hard-muscled and strong, as Mayflower had been. Rainpaw picked her out easily, next to a grey tabby tom.

Next to the warriors were two elderly cats – a dark cat with very much contrasting paler patches, and a small tortoiseshell. Their part of camp seemed to be the most sheltered; apart from what Rainpaw could only guess was the nursery, with the warm scents of milk and kits coming from it.

Then there was the hole Rainpaw had watched Featherpaw enter earlier – the medicine cat's den, she guessed. The starlight turned the golden cat's fur silver, and Rainpaw lifted her eyes to the star-scattered sky.

Rainpaw stared at the sky for a few moments more. She turned to go back to the apprentice's sleeping spot, and settled down quickly. She could see the east side of the sky lightening, and a group of cats were beginning to gather near the entrance to camp.

Rainpaw sighed contentedly. This was _WindClan_.

***

"Wake up, you lazy furball! You've been asleep forever – what do you think you are, a hedgehog?"

Rainpaw snapped playfully at Greenpaw before getting up.

"Did you want something in particular, or were you just waking me up for the sake of it?" she teased.

"No, actually, I have a reason," Greenpaw replied. "Mayflower's just told Ashstar about you. She thinks he'll be better now that the elders have taken Petalpaw's body out for burial."

"She _what_?!" Rainpaw yowled. Every hair on her pelt prickled as she thought of greeting the depressed Clan leader. Greenpaw couldn't answer, however, because a yowl broke out from the top of a large rock.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather around the Tallrock for a Clan meeting!" the voice yowled. Rainpaw whipped around to see the grey figure of Ashstar standing on the rock. Rainpaw could still see the dull ache of loss in his yellow eyes, but he certainly looked a lot better than the day before.

"Come on," Greenpaw nudged Rainpaw. "We'd better go."

Rainpaw settled down next to a dark, almost black tom and curled her tail around her paws. However, Ashstar looked at her and flicked his tail, signalling her to come up onto the Tallrock. Rainpaw's eyes widened in surprise and she hastened to obey.

Once Rainpaw was on the Tallrock, Ashstar began.

"Cats of WindClan," he mewed, but an outbreak of cries drowned him.

"Who's _that_?"

"Is it a ShadowClan spy?"

"We must plan an attack!" yowled the dark tom Rainpaw had been next to, springing to his paws. Many cats copied him.

"Wait! Is that… faintly…?"

"That's Twolegs! She's a kittypet!"

"I knew it!" Rainpaw could hear Cinderpaw's jubilant mew, and she itched to rake the smug look off the she-cat's face.

"Ashstar!" cried the black-and-white tom called Patchfur. "You can't seriously…?"

"_Silence_!" Ashstar spat. "I cannot deny that this is – or was – a kittypet. But it is not what you think. Sit down, Tigerface, Patchfur," he added to Barleypelt and the dark tom. "You too, Cinderpaw." The cats he had named sat down, scowling.

"Now," Ashstar hissed, "are you quite finished?" When no cat contradicted him, he continued, "You all remember Stormcloud, one of our warriors? Last newleaf, she was captured by Twolegs."

"I remember that!" the old black-and-white tom nodded. "She was a queen in the nursery at the time. Three kits, if I'm not mistaken. Not even old enough to open their eyes."

Ashstar nodded in approval. "Yes. The Twolegs wanted to make Stormcloud and her kits into a kittypet. They did, too. In fact, two of the kits were lost."

"No!" cried a grey tom with deep green eyes. His tail went straight up in terror. "But what about the third?" he questioned.

"Roseheart, your question is justified." Ashstar nodded. "That kit… that kit is standing here next to me."

Rainpaw could see the eyes of every cat upon her. She could also feel a hot flush spreading across her fur. Ashstar seemed to waiting for her to say something, but she couldn't think. She didn't do too well in front of a crowd.

"I don't believe it," Tigerface said bluntly. "Stormcloud would never have been soft enough to become a kittypet."

Roseheart looked like he wanted to agree, but he was looking with something like wonder at Rainpaw. Rainpaw looked away, embarrassed to have every cat staring at her. Luckily, Ashstar saved her from her own chagrin.

"Cats of WindClan, this cat has every right to ask for a place in WindClan!" he yowled. "Do we deny the Clan a strong warrior? You cannot deny, at least, that Stormcloud was a respectable warrior!"

Several cats yowled in agreement, though Rainpaw heard Tigerface scoff, "Strong!"

"Then it is decided," Ashstar decided. He raised his eyes to the sky. "Wildheart, you are ready for your first apprentice. You will mentor this cat."

A brown tom called out in astonishment. "Me?"

Rainpaw thought she caught a glimmer of amusement in the leader's eyes. "Yes. Wildheart, you are trustworthy and energetic. Pass on what you have learned."

"What will her name be?" called a pretty tortoiseshell.

"Her name will be the same name she had as a kittypet, the same name Stormcloud gave her," Ashstar replied, as Rainpaw and her new mentor hurried forward to touch noses. "Rainpaw."


	7. A New Friend, A New Enemy

**DISCLAIMER: Erin Hunter owns Warriors, not me.**

A New Friend, A New Enemy

Rainpaw jumped delicately off the Tallrock and turned to face her new mentor with obvious apprehension. Wildheart danced from one paw to the next, eager to go.

"So what do want to do first?" he asked.

_You're asking me?_ Rainpaw wanted to yowl. _You're the mentor!_ Instead, she just shrugged.

"Don't know, huh…" Wildheart trailed off and looked around warily, as though scared to be doing something wrong. He bent down to whisper in Rainpaw's ear. "Just between you and me, you're my first apprentice… I've only been a warrior for a moon. So I'm going to be forgetting I'm the mentor and not the apprentice!"

Rainpaw's ears flicked in amusement. "Why don't you start by showing me around camp?" she suggested, feeling, as Wildheart had said, very much like the mentor. "I don't know it very well yet…"

"Good idea!" Wildheart agreed enthusiastically. "Over there's where the warriors sleep… apprentices… elders… nursery. Ashstar's den is over there," He flicked his tail to a crack underneath the Tallrock, "And that's the medicine cat's den."

Rainpaw nodded. "Yes, Featherpaw and…" She trailed off, realizing she didn't know the name of the actual medicine cat.

"Sunspot," Wildheart supplied helpfully, "The golden she-cat. She's my sister."

Rainpaw shot a grateful glance at him. "Sunspot," she agreed.

"Who's talking about me?" asked a muffled voice from behind them. Rainpaw and Wildeyes turned to see Sunspot walking towards them, a wad of some yellow flowers in her jaws.

"Tansy," Sunspot said, following Rainpaw's gaze, "Good for infected wounds."

"This is my new apprentice, Sunspot." There was no mistaking the pride in Wildheart's voice. "Rainpaw, Stormcloud's daughter!"

"Wow, congratulations!" The medicine cat mewed. She gave Rainpaw a long, hard stare, who felt vaguely uncomfortable. She dropped the herbs at her paws. "Featherpaw!" she called. The long furred apprentice trotted across the camp and looked questioningly at her mentor. "Take these to our den. And if Wildheart doesn't mind, you could take Rainpaw with you."

Wildheart blinked. "No, that's fine," he assured them. "Rainpaw, have a quick look around, and then meet me next to the fresh-kill pile and we can go hunting."

"Yes!" mewed Rainpaw in triumph. _Hunting! _She let Featherpaw lead her across camp.

"Hi, Featherpaw," Rainpaw said. Featherpaw mewed a quiet greeting back, then turned her back and started sorting herbs. Rainpaw had to strain her ears to hear. She was quite a contrast against Greenpaw, who would never shut up.

Rainpaw watched Featherpaw stack up the herbs. However, they kept falling down. After Featherpaw's fifth try, Rainpaw decided to intervene.

"Look, you're never going to get anywhere," Rainpaw sighed. "Let me help."

Featherpaw blinked gratefully up at her as she pinned the feverfew down with a small rock. "Thanks," she said softly. Rainpaw smiled back, and continued separating the borage root and leaves, glad she had managed to get through to the almost silent medicine cat.

"It's almost like… I don't know," Featherpaw mewed softly as she patted the newly acquired tansy into place. "I just thought that I'd be more knowledgeable now that I'm a medicine cat. But it's no different from being an ordinary apprentice, really… except that everyone avoids me."

She sighed. Rainpaw's heart ached for the lonely apprentice. "I suppose it just takes time," she assured her. "You'll get it."

"I guess…"

Rainpaw could tell Featherpaw wasn't entirely convinced. "How long have you been a medicine cat apprentice, anyway?"

"That reminds me! It's a full moon tonight! There'll be a Gathering!" Featherpaw mewed, but she didn't meet Rainpaw's eyes. Rainpaw frowned, not fooled by Featherpaw's attempt to distract her, but she didn't push it. Maybe she had been the apprentice for a while.

Wildheart was already waiting when Rainpaw bounded out of the medicine cat's den.

"There you are! I was beginning to think I'd have to send a patrol in after you," he grinned, his eyes sparkling. "What do you think you are, a medicine cat?"

"So now I'm a hedgehog and a medicine cat?" Rainpaw mewed good-humouredly, remembering what Greenpaw had said that morning. "Or maybe a medicine hedgehog…"

Wildheart paused, confused, but shook his head and let it go. "Okay, we'll go hunting now, like I promised."

"Yay!"

"Not for long, though," Wildheart warned, glancing up at the reddening sky. "Ashstar will want to leave for the Gathering."

"Right."

"Maybe we'd better get some cat to come with us… Rockfall!" Wildheart padded towards the large, brown tom Rainpaw had seen Mayflower talking to the day before. He talked to him briefly, and Rainpaw saw him nod before approaching Rainpaw.

"Greetings, Rainpaw," Rockfall said. "My name is Rockfall, WindClan's deputy. My apprentice and I will be accompanying you and Wildheart today."

Rainpaw inclined her head nervously. Rockfall had an air of power which not even Ashstar seemed to radiate. Looking up, Rainpaw wondered who Rockfall's apprentice was. With a pang of regret, she realized it wouldn't be either of her friends, Featherpaw or Greenpaw. Maybe it would be Branchpaw, Rainpaw thought, or Petalpaw's brother Bluepaw. That would give her a chance to get to know the other apprentices.

She groaned inwardly when Rockfall called his apprentice over, and an annoyingly familiar, light orange pelt appeared, and looked at Rainpaw with disgust.

"_What_?!" Cinderpaw mewed in disbelief. "It's bad enough that I have to share my den with it, but I never thought I'd have to hunt with a _kittypet_!"

"Nice to see you too," Rainpaw meowed back coldly. _Not_...

"Calm down, you two," Rockfall growled. "Cinderpaw, I expect more from my apprentice."

Cinderpaw scowled, looking down at her paws.

***

"Let us see your stalking techniques," Rockfall ordered.

Both apprentices dropped into the hunter's crouch, remembering to keep upwind. Rainpaw scented a rabbit, and, judging by the slightest twitch of her nose, Cinderpaw did too.

At exactly the same moment, Cinderpaw and Rainpaw both sprang. They raced across the moor after the prey. Cinderpaw's eyes narrowed as she saw Rainpaw start to overtake her.

"Move over, kittypet!" Cinderpaw growled, slamming into Rainpaw's flank. Rainpaw stumbled and fell, leaving Cinderpaw to catch the rabbit. Rainpaw unsheathed her claws and sank them into the ground at the sight of Cinderpaw walking back smugly, the fresh-kill in her jaws.

"Well done, Cinderpaw!" Rockfall congratulated his apprentice warmly. He turned his amber eyes on Rainpaw. "What went wrong?"

Rainpaw's instincts screamed to tell the true story – lying to a mentor, even though Rockfall was not _her_ mentor, was one of the worst things an apprentice could do.

"I… tripped on a loose stone, I guess," Rainpaw stammered. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"Make sure of it." Rockfall turned to walk away, with Cinderpaw following triumphantly. Rainpaw's tail drooped.

"Are you sure that's _really_ what happened?" asked Wildheart gently from behind her. Rainpaw jumped, but nodded.

"Yes, Wildheart."

"Hmm. Okay. Well, let's go back to camp," Wildheart led the way back to camp, with Rainpaw trailing behind him. The sorrow in her heart was gone, and in its place was a bubbling, boiling anger.

If that was the way Cinderpaw wanted it, fine. Rainpaw was ready.


	8. The Gathering

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Warriors, as you would probably have guessed. When I get older all three Erins might mysteriously 'die' and leave me to own Warriors in their 'wills'. But that time is not now… *sobs again***

The Gathering

"Ow! Ow! Mouse dung!"

Rainpaw looked on timidly as her mentor scraped the ground angrily with his claws. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, no," Wildheart assured her. "But please. Claws _sheathed_."

Rainpaw looked at her unsheathed claws and quickly slid them back inside her paws. Wildheart turned to quickly lick his flank before continuing.

"I think you ought to try the leap-and-hold," he advised. "You'll find it very- ouch!"

Rainpaw had attacked him from behind. "Didn't see that one coming did you?" she growled playfully in his ear.

"No, I didn't," replied Wildheart, shaking her off. "That's really good, Rainpaw."

It had been two moons since Rainpaw had joined WindClan. She was good friends with Greenpaw and Featherpaw, and she had also befriended the good-natured Branchpaw, Greenpaw's littermate. Cinderpaw, however, was a whole different story, and Bluepaw, Petalpaw's brother, seemed to think that Rainpaw was trying to replace his sister.

Wildheart and Rainpaw arrived back at camp, fresh-kill in their jaws. Wildheart had allowed them to hunt before returning.

"Good catch, you two," Rockfall commented. Rainpaw's eyes glowed at the praise.

I was just settling where the apprentices slept when Rockfall padded up to me.

"Rainpaw, you've really begun to show how you are truly Stormcloud's daughter," Rockfall mewed. "So Ashstar has decided that you will be going to the Gathering tonight."

Rainpaw squeaked in surprise. "What? _Me_?"

"Yes." Rockfall smiled. "Bluepaw will be going too."

"Great," Rainpaw muttered under her breath. "But better than Cinderpaw."

***

The moon shone brightly overhead as Ashstar lead his cats down to the island. They carefully crossed over the borderline between their and neutral territory. Rainpaw jumped as she edged too close to the border of the Twoleg horseplace and a horse neighed. Bluepaw twitched his whiskers with contempt amusement, but Rainpaw narrowed her eyes and tried to ignore him.

The Clan turned a corner abruptly and Rainpaw let out a soft "Oh!" of surprise.

The lake was larger than Rainpaw would have ever imagined; a huge stretch of water that did not ripple or surge as the stream running across the ThunderClan border did. It was as black as night, except for the silvery glow of the stars in the water, reflecting the sky above them. Rainpaw could only stare, and Wildheart nudged her with his nose.

"Come on; you'll get left behind," he prompted.

Rainpaw's courage dimmed when she reached the dead, blackened oak that all the Clans would have to cross to reach the island. She stared at the water below it, imagining it tugging her paws, soaking her short fur and pulling her under…

"You're holding everyone up," Bluepaw grumbled from behind her. Rainpaw gave herself a little shake. _StarClan will guide me,_ she thought determinedly, and she placed one paw on a branch.

Pawstep by pawstep, Rainpaw edged across the dead tree, keeping her gaze fixed on the island beyond, trying to and ignoring the water surging less then two tail-lengths below her. When she was three-quarters of the way there, the tree creaked ominously. Rainpaw gave a yowl of fear and scrambled off the tree quickly.

Wildheart brushed his tail across her shoulder affectionately. "I thought you would knock the tree away!"

"StarClan wouldn't let that happen," Rainpaw replied as they walked into the clearing, not wanting to make it seem like she was as shaken as she was.

Rainpaw was sure she would never forget the sight. Cats, stretching as far as the eye could see, scents mingling here and there as cats weaved among each other on the night of the full moon truce. There was a tree in the clearing where a dark brown cat already stood waiting. Without hesitating, Ashstar leapt onto the tree beside him. Rockfall settled himself in the roots of the tree, and greeted a black cat with yellow eyes who was already settled.

"Looks like ShadowClan and ThunderClan haven't arrived yet," Wildeyes commented, licking a forepaw and drawing it over his ears.

"So that's just _RiverClan_?" Rainpaw couldn't keep the awe out of her voice.

"Bramblestar does seem to have brought a lot of cats tonight," admitted Wildheart.

"So, what should _I_ do?"

"You can meet cats from other Clans. Don't forget – this is a good time to learn about your enemies," Wildheart answered.

"And don't give too much away!" growled Mayflower from behind them. Rainpaw nodded, rolling her eyes at Mayflower's assumptations, and padded away.

She quickly found Bluepaw's scent and followed it to where he was. He was sitting next to a small grey tom – fresh out of the nursery, Rainpaw guessed.

"Hi, Bluepaw," Rainpaw tried to sound friendly.

"Not _you_," moaned Bluepaw.

"You sound like Cinderpaw," Rainpaw complained. She saw the grey tom looking a little scared by their quarrelling, and decided to step in.

"Don't mind Bluepaw; he'd find fault with StarClan!" Rainpaw joked. "I'm Rainpaw. What's your name?"

Looking slightly more relaxed, the RiverClan apprentice answered, "Dustpaw."

"Oh, Dustpaw!" Rainpaw greeted him enthusiastically. "Is this your first Gathering?"

Dustpaw nodded, looking excited.

"Mine too!" Rainpaw mewed. "It's a little scary, don't you-"

She was cut off by a great yowling from the tree that Ashstar was perched on. Two other cats – a tawny she-cat and a haughty-looking white tom – had arrived. Rainpaw didn't know how she hadn't noticed their new scents before.

"Great StarClan, they smell!" Rainpaw wrinkled her nose in distaste. A silver tom cast an annoyed glance at her.

"I know," muttered a voice in Rainpaw's ear. Rainpaw turned to see a creamy brown tom with amber eyes; RiverClan, from the scent of him. "That's ShadowClan."

Rainpaw blinked, but the dark brown cat had begun to speak.

"All is well in RiverClan," he mewed. "Greenleaf is approaching, so Twolegs have begun to gather at the greenleaf-place again – but that was only to be expected. Also, we have a new warrior. Runningflight sits vigil in the camp tonight."

Cats – mainly of RiverClan – yowled in ecstasy. The tom next to Rainpaw was among them.

The white tom dipped her head to him and he stepped back for her to speak.

"Thank you, Bramblestar," the ShadowClan leader said. "There isn't much to report on ShadowClan's behalf. We found a fox on our territory, but it is no longer a threat, as it was killed by our deputy, Redclaw," he nodded towards the reddish-brown she-cat next to Rockfall. She held her head up proudly as her Clanmates yowled their appreciation.

Ashstar was next speaking. "Like Cloudstar, I have nothing of particular interest to speak of. Prey is running well. Borders are being checked and marked regularly," He stared pointedly at Cloudstar, who looked away, scowling.

"What's wrong with ShadowClan's leader?" asked Rainpaw curiously.

"They try and mount border attacks regularly on Clans whose borders are poorly marked," explained Willowheart, a WindClan elder. "Though I don't see what Ashstar's worried about. ShadowClan is as far away from WindClan as possible."

Rainpaw nodded, and then started as she saw that Ashstar had finished his report and ThunderClan's leader had begun talking.

"Cats of all Clans," she yowled, "I bring news from ThunderClan!"

"Great StarClan!" The tom behind her rolled his eyes. "ThunderClan thinks they know everything!"

"Hush!" said a mottled ginger she-cat from his left side, and the RiverClan cat fell silent.

"Two sunrises ago, two of our warriors, Froststripe and Spottedfeather, chased a light grey tabby she-cat off our territory," the ThunderClan leader continued. "This cat had no scent from any of the Clans."

There was an uneasy murmuring from below. Rainpaw's heart almost stopped.

"Dream…" she whispered hoarsely.

This cat couldn't be the same one from her dream, couldn't be the one Windstar had warned her about… it was a coincidence, it had to be.

"Too much fresh-kill…" Rainpaw blamed herself quietly, but she couldn't shake off the feeling that this cat was related in some way.

"She put up a good fight," the ThunderClan leader went on, "If you see her on your territory, chase her out. She is simply a drain on prey."

With that, she jumped off the tree and signalled to her Clan with her tail. The Gathering was finished.

Rainpaw stood, wide-eyed, and let herself go in her train of thought.


	9. Discovery

**DISCLAIMER – If I owned Warriors, Firestar would spend more time with Sandstorm and go back to his pre-Firestar ways.**

Discovery

"Rainpaw? Rainpaw, we're leaving."

Rainpaw jumped and looked up at her mentor, who had a concerned look in his eyes. She nodded.

"Okay, I'll… be along in a second."

Wildheart looked slightly suspicious. "If you're sure…" he mewed. Rainpaw nodded again and he turned and loped back to Ashstar and Rockfall.

"I have to go now." It was the creamy brown tom that had been sitting next to her. "I'll see you at another Gathering, I guess."

"Sure," Rainpaw replied. "By the way, my name's Rainpaw."

"Foxpaw." The RiverClan tom grinned. "Okay, I'm coming, Smalltail!"

He dashed away.

Making sure no cat was watching her, Rainpaw padded quietly off the island and raced over to WindClan territory. She _had _to find the grey cat from her dream!

"If Cloudstar said that the two warriors chased it out of ThunderClan territory, it makes sense that the cat would be near the ThunderClan border…" Rainpaw muttered as the cold night air whipped her pelt. She shivered. Newleaf _was_ coming, but in the meantime, her short pelt was not very protective against the temperature of leaf-bare.

Rainpaw arrived at the stream where she had buried her mother – the Moonpool stream, as she had found out it was called – and began to trace the territory. She arrived at the small mound where her mother was buried and a small lump rose in her throat.

She shook her head quickly as she remembered that this was the place where her mother had reached her. She couldn't blame anything now. Stormcloud _had_ come to her.

"Stormcloud?" Rainpaw called out tentatively. "Are – are you there? Stormcloud… or StarClan! If you're there, tell me… don't medicine cats or Clan leaders usually get omens from StarClan? W-why me? I'm just an apprentice! Worse, when you sent me that prophecy, I was a kittypet!"

There was no answer. Rainpaw sighed. She should have known better. StarClan wouldn't have just told her outright, or they would have revealed more the very first time Rainpaw heard them.

There was a loud yowl from behind her. Rainpaw whipped around to see a flash of grey fur launch itself onto her.

Rainpaw raked her claws down her attacker's belly and lashed out with her back legs. The cat spat in fury and chomped down hard on Rainpaw's tail. Rainpaw writhed free, losing several clumps of fur in the process.

For the first time, Rainpaw was able to get a good look at her attacker. It was a small, light grey tabby – a she-cat – with gleaming yellow eyes. She had a scar on her ear, and it was clear that this cat was no stranger to battles.

Right now the grey cat was bleeding on the shoulder. Rainpaw glanced at her torn and bleeding tail quickly. How was she going to explain this when she got back to camp?

"Are you also going to chase me out of your territory?" asked the grey she-cat softly. Her voice was strangely accented. "I do doubt it – you are small. A to-be, by the looks of it."

Rainpaw didn't know what this cat was mewling on about, but she wasn't about to let herself be mocked like that.

"Yeah, well, you're no huge cat either," Rainpaw retorted.

"You are correct in your assumption," the grey cat muttered, sheathing her claws and sitting down. "The two cave-guards from the other territory were more skilled than me by far."

Cave-guard? To-be? Rainpaw's head was spinning. Overall, the initial threat seemed to be gone – the grey cat had started grooming herself. Rainpaw gave the base of her tail a quick lick to hide her confusion.

"Who are you?" asked Rainpaw cautiously. "Are you a rogue?"

"I do not know of these 'rogues' you speak of, but my name is Mist on Frosty Morning." The grey she-cat extended a paw to a mystified Rainpaw. "Perhaps, if we were to know each other better, you may find it easier to call me Mist."

"Umm… well, I'm Rainpaw. I'm an apprentice from WindClan." Even as the words left her jaws, it occurred to her what Ashstar would say if he knew she'd given her name and Clan to an unknown stranger.

"Rainpaw? WindClan?" asked Mist, looking as mystified as Rainpaw felt. "What an odd name for a to-be!"

"Do you mean apprentice?" asked Rainpaw. "And it's not _that_ strange," she added defensively. "It's quite normal, actually."

"I do not understand what you mean by apprentice," said Mist slowly, "But I can see you have different traditions – and names – to my Tribe."

"Tribe? Is that like a Clan?"

"I suppose… although I cannot know what a Clan is." Mist mewed. "Maybe I should tell you more. When kits – you know kits? – are born, our Healer determines whether they are large and muscular or small and lithe. The large kits train to become cave-guards, and the smaller ones train to become prey-hunters."

"Oh… it doesn't work like that with us," Rainpaw said. "When kits are born, their mother gives them a name, but we don't have prey-hunters or cave-guards." _Whatever they are_, she added silently. "Our warriors do everything – hunting, and border patrols."

"Everything? That must be hard."

"Not really – although I'm not a warrior yet, so I don't know," she added quickly. "Anyway, there's something I don't quite understand. What's a Healer? Is it like a medicine cat?"

"Our Healer leads our Tribe. He also interprets messages from the Tribe of Endless Hunting," replied Mist.

"What's the Tribe of Endless Hunting?" asked Rainpaw curiously. Mist goggled at her in shock.

"You do not know the Tribe of Endless Hunting? They are our warrior ancestors, and they watch down on us from the stars."

"_Ancestors_?" gasped Rainpaw. "I guess you don't know StarClan, then."

Mist shook her head.

Rainpaw gulped. She realised that she had let loose a lot of precious information about her Clan, and she didn't really want to be caught in the act.

"I think I ought to be getting back. Wildheart will be wondering where I am anyway. Apprentices aren't meant to go wandering off."

"Apprentice…?"

"Erm… trains to be a warrior?"

"Oh! You mean a to-be!" Mist nodded. "I see. So you are a to-be?"

"An apprentice…" Rainpaw corrected her. "But yes. Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Mist."

"To you too," said Mist warmly. "I understand a lot more things now. Oh! One last thing… I do not wish to be chased out again. You will not give away my position? You Clan cats seem very serious about territory." She sounded almost pleading.

"Of course not," Rainpaw agreed.

Mist said nothing as Rainpaw bounded away. She appeared to be mulling things over.

Rainpaw's head was reeling. This cat came from a Tribe that knew different ancestors, and that used different names. They didn't have a Clan leader and a medicine cat, but both in one cat.

It was only when she was back in her den Rainpaw realized that she had completely forgotten about the prophecy.


	10. RiverClan's Apprentice

**DISCLAIMER: If I owned Warriors, Feathertail wouldn't have died and she and Leafpool would've had to fight over Crowfeather! Mwahahahaha!!!**

RiverClan's Apprentice

Rainpaw's jaws gaped in a yawn. She was tired from last night – but she was glad Sunspot believed her story about getting her tail stuck in a bramble bush. She felt bad about lying to Featherpaw, though.

At that moment, Greenpaw rushed past.

"What's going on?" Rainpaw asked.

"Ashstar's called a Clan meeting. Mistycloud's kits are ready to be apprenticed!"

"Really? That's great!" gasped Rainpaw. Mistycloud's kits kept getting into no end of mischief. Yesterday, Sunspot had returned from the Gathering to find all her herbs scattered by the inquisitive kits. She had not been amused.

Rainpaw glanced over at the nursery. Two kits – one black, one tawny – were standing close to their mother, spotlessly groomed. The black tom kit gave an excited little wriggle.

"Can _we_ be apprentices?" begged Runningkit, one of Sunfire's three kits. "I'm really good at hunting!"

"No," Sunfire purred fondly. "You're only four moons old." Seeing her kits look disappointed, she added, "Go and see Willowheart and Shadefrost. If you ask her nicely, I'm sure Willowheart will tell you a story about when she was the medicine cat."

"Okay!" Runningkit chirped, cheered up. "Race you to the elder's den!" he called to his littermates, dashing off.

"No fair, Runningkit, you got a head start!" Mosskit complained as she and Hawkkit raced after their brother.

Rainpaw purred and turned her attention to Ashstar, who had begun speaking.

"Nightkit and Tawnykit have reached their sixth moon," Ashstar said, his eyes glowing with happiness as he looked down at his second litter. Rainpaw noticed that Bluepaw looked a little jealous of his younger brother and sister. "I believe they are ready to become apprentices. Nightkit, from this day until you become a warrior you shall be known as Nightpaw."

Nightpaw, the black tom, squeaked and almost fell off the Tallrock. Mistycloud looked at him sternly, but it was clear she was too proud to be properly cross.

"Tigerface," Ashstar looked across the clearing at the dark brown tabby. "You mentored Patchfur, and he is a strong warrior. Help Nightpaw do the same."

Mentor and apprentice touched noses. Nightpaw seemed slightly daunted at having such a confident senior warrior for a mentor.

"And now Tawnykit," Ashstar smiled at his youngest – and only remaining - daughter. "From now until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Tawnypaw. Patchfur," Ashstar called the black-and-white warrior, who raised his head arrogantly, "You were mentor to Petalpaw before her untimely death. Pass on what you planned to show Petalpaw to Tawnypaw."

Grief entered his voice at the mention of his deceased daughter, but pride at Nightpaw and Tawnypaw overcame it. Bluepaw, obviously under his mother's influence, started the chant.

"Nightpaw! Tawnypaw! Nightpaw! Tawnypaw!"

"That was… really nice," mewed Rainpaw, not knowing what to say, as Ashstar dismissed the Clan.

Greenpaw blinked knowingly. He seemed to realise that there were no words in Rainpaw to describe the warm feeling that had settled in her at watching the two kits become apprentices.

Rainpaw stopped abruptly as she spotted Wildheart bounding towards them.

"Hi, Rainpaw!" he greeted her. "Listen, do you want to go on the sunhigh patrol?"

"Sure," Rainpaw said, wondering why her mentor looked so excited.

"Great, we're going with Dawnlight and Branchpaw, okay?" he mewed. Rainpaw nodded, but something had distracted Wildheart. Rainpaw looked over to where Wildheart was staring to see a pretty tortoiseshell, Dawnlight, making her way towards them. Rainpaw stifled a purr as she understood.

As it turned out, this made the patrol _very_ boring. The two apprentices were left at the back while the two young warriors laughed together ahead.

"Is he _always _like this?" Branchpaw muttered as they approached camp.

"No," sighed Rainpaw. She glanced around quickly. No one would know if she slipped out of camp quickly… and she'd bring back some prey and say she'd been hunting.

"I'm going hunting," Rainpaw lied to Branchpaw. "See you later?"

"Sure," Branchpaw mewed innocently, seeming to conveniently forget that they were supposed to be on patrol. "I'll tell Ashstar or Wildheart if they ask."

"Thanks," Rainpaw mewed. She wouldn't be missed by the apprentices, at least, she thought, she dashed off to the ThunderClan border.

"Mist!" she yowled. She had to tell her about the prophecy. "Mist, are you there?"

No answer. Rainpaw searched more thoroughly, checking behind every boulder on the WindClan side of the border, even ones that would have been far too tiny to hide the Tribe cat's bulk. There was no sign of Mist.

Rainpaw was beginning to get worried. She combed the ThunderClan border until not a mousetail was left unchecked. Rainpaw padded across the hills and realized that she had reached the horseplace.

The horses were a lot more active during the day than the night, which was when Rainpaw had seen them last. She flattened her ears and raced across the field to check the RiverClan border.

"Mist!" she mewed loudly. "Mist, are you there?"

"Shhh!" hissed an angry voice. "Do you want the whole of RiverClan and WindClan running to find us?"

"Foxpaw?" Rainpaw stared in disbelief at the RiverClan apprentice. "What are you doing here?"

Foxpaw scuffed his paws. Rainpaw was glad to see he kept to his side of the border. "Well, you see… I wanted to see you."

"Me?" hissed Rainpaw. "Me? What are you mewing on about, Foxpaw?"

"Well, this cat said she knew who you were," Foxpaw explained. "She didn't have a recognisable scent. I hoped I'd meet you here."

Rainpaw's heart almost stopped. "Mist?" she breathed. But she couldn't help thinking, _He is so _naïve_! What if that had been an unfriendly rogue?_

"Hush, young one. This one means no harm."

Rainpaw turned to see Mist sitting behind her, washing a forepaw. Despite being pleased to see her, Rainpaw was also angry. "Well, I know! It's not that I don't trust him, but what if either of our Clans find out?"

"I believe it was much simpler in the mountains," Mist replied calmly. "There were no boundaries, and no endless fighting over territory."

"Tribe ways are different to Clan ways," retorted Rainpaw irritably.

"Clearly." Mist's tone was frosty.

"Okay, will somebody _please_ tell me what's going on?" interrupted Foxpaw.

Rainpaw was doubtful. She was still angry with Mist for involving the creamy brown tom at all. "It's really none of RiverClan's business."

Foxpaw's eyes narrowed. "So it's WindClan's? I thought we were talking about the _Tribe_ anyway?"

"_We_ weren't talking about anything!" spat Rainpaw, her tail tip flicking.

"If there's a strange cat wandering amok, it's every Clan's business!" answered Foxpaw coldly. "I don't know about you, but _I'm_ a loyal cat! This is why I'm going to Bramblestar right now!"


	11. Mist's Tale

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokém… whoops, wrong fic. I don't own Warriors. Or Pokémon. But that has nothing to do with this fic so I'll shut up.**

Mist's Tale

Rainpaw stared after Foxpaw in dismay, her anger already gone. Foxpaw couldn't go to his Clan leader – that would be too mousebrained!

"Foxpaw!" she yowled after him, unwilling to cross the border. "Foxpaw, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! It's just… oh, StarClan, why are you so confusing?"

There was no reply, from Foxpaw or StarClan. Rainpaw looked at Mist. "What should I do? Ashstar would kill me if I was found on another Clan's territory. But Foxpaw _can't_ tell Bramblestar!"

Mist looked back at her with eyes filled with wisdom. She had dropped her earlier coldness. "I have travelled many places, and seen many things. My advice to you now is to follow your heart."

Rainpaw wailed in anguish. "But my heart is so confused!"

"No, it is only your mind that is confused," Mist corrected her gently. "Your heart is clear. Now… I think I should tell you why I was exiled from the Tribe of Rushing Water."

"You were exiled?!" yelped Rainpaw in shock. She knew that cats were only exiled if they committed a terrible betrayal or crime to their Clan… or, Tribe.

"Yes." Mist sighed in regret. "It was my own doing. I should have foreseen it." She licked her chest, but Rainpaw could almost feel the unhappiness coming off her in waves.

"Only tell me if you want to," Rainpaw urged her.

"No." Mist raised her head proudly. "I must talk. It is what the Tribe of Endless Hunting would want."

Rainpaw stared. She had never seen a cat more dedicated to her ancestors – except maybe Sunspot or Featherpaw.

"I was a young to-be," Mist began. "The Tribe of Endless Hunting had called to Stoneteller, our Tribe Healer. It was time for him to choose a to-be, to be his successor."

"Successor…" Rainpaw breathed quietly. Like a kind of deputy, she supposed. But only one, when the Tribe of Endless Hunting told the Healer too?

"And that to-be was…" Mist stared into the distance, immersed in memories. "Me."

"You?" gasped Rainpaw. "_You_?"

"Yes, me. Stoneteller mentored me as a young to-be, and I learned how to understand moonlight on water and leaf that falls. I learned about the secrets of the Tribe of Endless Hunting in the Cave of Pointed Stones."

"Is that like our Moonpool?" asked Rainpaw in awe.

"I do not know your Moonpool," shrugged Mist, "but if it is the place where the voices of your ancestors speak loudest, then yes, it is like your Moonpool."

"Amazing…" Rainpaw breathed. "But, Mist. There's something I don't quite understand. If you were Stoneteller's apprentice, how come you got exiled? It doesn't make sense."

"Aah, yes." Mist gave a small, sad smile. "I have not yet told you that part of the story.

"Stoneteller and I were out hunting – I had to learn how to hunt, after all, although it was rare for Stoneteller to leave the cavern. I had caught a large rabbit, and Stoneteller was congratulating me on my catch when a particularly bold hawk swooped down and…"

Mist did not say any more, but Rainpaw could guess what had happened. Poor Mist. Rainpaw could not imagine what it would be like if her mentor, Wildheart, died.

"The hawk did not even manage to take off before I avenged the death of Stoneteller. I would not let his body be taken by that bird." Mist's eyes, although filled with sorrow, glinted proudly. But then they dulled again. "That was when some of the Tribe arrived. They saw our grey Healer dead, and then my paws, covered with hawk's blood and with grey rabbit fur snagged in my claws. What can I say? They made the wrong assumption and refused to listen to reason. I was driven from the mountains."

Rainpaw could see how much that had cost her, and was deeply grateful that Mist trusted her enough to tell her it. "Thank you, Mist."

"I should be thanking you," Mist bowed her head. "That has lifted a weight from my chest – a weight I did not realize I was carrying. Now," she looked at Rainpaw straight in the eye, "are you going to go after your friend?"

***

Rainpaw was still unsure about this. _But I'm a long way outside the warrior code already,_ she reminded herself as she galloped through RiverClan territory. _Apprentices aren't supposed to sneak out of camp without their mentor's permission._

"Where's the camp?" she thought wildly, then she remembered Wildheart's words.

_Now, what can you smell? Try to pick up one scent, and concentrate on it._

Rainpaw obeyed the voice in her mind and put her nose to the ground. Water, horses, undergrowth, the Thunderpath somewhere up ahead…

"Ugh." Rainpaw shook her head as she looked upwards. "I hate trees."

Concentrating on scent again, she finally found one she recognized. Foxpaw! She felt like yowling in triumph as she traced it further into RiverClan territory.

As she followed Foxpaw's scent, with urgency growing inside her, she realized that Foxpaw had cooled off somewhat as her stalked back to his camp. A tiny bubble of hope swelled in her chest. Maybe Foxpaw hadn't told Bramblestar after all! Suddenly her paw came into contact with something cold, and wet. A stream!

Rainpaw hated getting her paws wet, just like any other WindClan cat. Out of all the Clans, WindClan hatred of water was worst. But this was an emergency.

"Come on, Rainpaw, it's just a little stream," she muttered, wincing as her belly fur was submerged in water. "It'll wash away some of your scent, too."

She shook herself dry on the other side. Somehow, she felt stronger, victorious. She had conquered the stream.

Now she didn't need Foxpaw's scent. She could hear cats, and a strong RiverClan scent was in the air. Rainpaw crept closer to the little triangle of land and peered through the rushes.

***

"Cats of RiverClan!" Bramblestar yowled. "Foxpaw has told me some most interesting news."

But Foxpaw felt no pride. He already felt bad about how he'd yowled at poor Rainpaw. That grey cat didn't look like she meant any harm… Rainpaw was only trying to protect her. It wasn't her fault Foxpaw had behaved like a badger with its fur clawed off. He had wanted to feel included, but that was no reason to go shooting his mouth off.

He squeezed his eyes tight shut with remorse, remembering Rainpaw's yellow eyes, filled with hatred.

"Oh StarClan, why does the warrior code have to be this way?" he mewed, almost silently.

"What way?" hissed a voice from behind Foxpaw. "I've been calling you for moons, mousebrain! Come over here!"

The creamy brown tom turned to see Rainpaw's yellow eyes gleaming from the rushes. Foxpaw's heart skipped a beat and he silently slipped into them beside her, making sure none of his Clanmates saw me.

"Finally!" Rainpaw rolled her eyes, but Foxpaw was glad to see there was a gleam of friendliness there. Obviously she had already forgotten their yowling match. _She-cats!_ Foxpaw thought.

"Look, I'm really sorry!" Foxpaw burst out. "I didn't mean to tell Bramblestar, it was just, you know, a spur of the moment thing!"

"I don't really care, you know," Rainpaw told me. "It's done now, and not even StarClan can turn back time. We just have to find a way to stop this!"

"Right," he agreed. "Let's make the best of the situation."

Maybe he had said that a bit too loud.

"Foxpaw! What are you doing in there?" a voice yowled. Foxpaw hissed under his breath as he recognised the voice and scent of Tornclaw, his mentor. "And who's that black cat? She smells of WindClan!"

The RiverClan apprentice jumped out of the rushes. "Er, no one!" he mewed quickly. "Just… just a friend…"

"A friend who's trespassing on RiverClan territory!" growled Tornclaw, fluffing out his white fur. He directed his next words at Rainpaw. "You have no right to be here!"

Rainpaw stepped boldly out of the bushes. _How can she be so brave at a time like this?_ Foxpaw thought admiringly.

"It's true," she mewed. "I accept that I'm not supposed to be here. But I came after him." She waved her tail in my direction.

Her next words were drowned by a storm of yowling.

"Foxpaw! _You_ had a part in this?" hissed Bramblestar furiously, leaping down from his position.

"I… well…" Foxpaw couldn't truthfully defend himself.

"That's it." Bramblestar's temper was surfacing. "You," he looked furiously at Rainpaw, "go home. And tell Ashstar to be ready for an attack from RiverClan!"


	12. A Loss of Friendship

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Warriors. Or Firestar, Squirrelflight, Leafpool, Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, Jayfeather… I could go on forever. But I _do_ own Rainpaw and Foxpaw and Mist. And some other characters which I'm too lazy to list. (Hey, that rhymes) Woohoo, go me, I own something! **

A Loss of Friendship

Rainpaw didn't know what to do. An attack from RiverClan? How was she supposed to deal with that? She considered her options.

One; say nothing to Ashstar, and then get yowled at anyway for leaving camp without permission, and let RiverClan attack with WindClan totally unprepared.

Two; tell Ashstar everything that happened, including the prophecy she received from Windstar, and then be assigned elder duty practically for life.

Option one was better for her short term, but Rainpaw knew that if she didn't tell Ashstar that would be disloyal to her Clan. And she'd been trying _so_ hard to prove she was Stormcloud's daughter, not just a pudgy kittypet who couldn't keep up with Clan life.

"Cats could _die_ today, Rainpaw," she told herself, steeling herself for what she was about to do.

"Ashstar!" Rainpaw yowled, bursting into the camp. "I have to tell you something!"

"What is it, Rainpaw?" asked Ashstar in surprise. Rainpaw almost lost her nerve at the knowledge that his friendly yellow eyes would soon burn with rage.

"I, um, well…" Rainpaw began. Then she rushed into her story, her words tumbling out of her jaws in an almost incoherent stream. She waited, out of breath, for Ashstar's reaction.

Ashstar blinked and exchanged a glance with Rockfall. "Er… could you run that by me again? That was just a little fast."

Rainpaw squeezed her eyes shut and told her story again more slowly, and with more detail. Ashstar closed his eyes and started to speak.

"Rockfall, organize a patrol. Bring… let's see… Roseheart. Mayflower. And… Mistycloud. If they want to bring Greenpaw and Bluepaw, let them. We might need a messenger if Bramblestar won't listen to reason."

"Sure, Ashstar," Rockfall said, and he dashed off – well, as much as such a large cat could _dash_. Ashstar opened his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Rainpaw. I know you thought you were doing the right thing, but you broke the warrior code more than once. You'll be looking after the elders for now instead of doing training."

"I know, Ashstar. I'm sorry." Rainpaw looked at her paws.

"Don't worry. Every cat gets in trouble at some point." Rainpaw looked up, and she was surprised to see a friendly gleam still in his eye.

"Thanks, Ashstar!" gasped Rainpaw, and she sprinted off to Sunspot's den to get some mouse bile.

"Elders, huh?" Featherpaw said, handing Rainpaw a wad of moss soaked in mouse bile. "Here, it'll get rid of the ticks, but be careful not to get any in your mouth. There'll be a foul taste in it for weeks. Wash your paws in a stream. It'll be cold and awful, but it's better than that horrible taste. It wrecks fresh-kill, mouse bile."

"Thanks," Rainpaw mewed gratefully. She padded to the elder's den.

"Right, who's got ticks?" she mumbled through the moss.

"I think I've got one just behind my ear," offered Shadefrost. Rainpaw nodded. She crouched down, and set to work.

"You're supposed to look for them yourself, you know," Wildheart mewed, coming up behind her. Rainpaw looked abashed.

"Sorry, Wildheart," she mumbled. "I've caused so much trouble for the Clan. I feel so bad."

"Oh, come on. You were acting on a prophecy from StarClan!" Wildheart assured her.

"What? Did you hear…?" Trailing off as she realised that she had been yowling loud enough for half the Clan to here, she muttered, "Still… I could have done it without upsetting Foxpaw. This is all my fault."

Wildheart's next answer was cut off by a screech. Rainpaw dropped the wad of moss and rushed out of the elder's den. Featherpaw was supporting a gasping, wild-eyed Greenpaw. His ear was torn and his flank was heaving fitfully.

"Greenpaw!" Rainpaw gasped, rushing over to her friend. "Wh- what happened?"

Greenpaw gulped a few mouthfuls of air before answering. "Bramblestar – attacking – too many – RiverClan warriors – Rockfall…"

He collapsed on the ground, wheezing.

"Quick! He needs coltsfoot!" cried Featherpaw. Sunspot dashed to her den and came out with a spiky yellow flower, which Featherpaw forced down Greenpaw's throat.

"Okay, that's right, chew… chew… swallow," said Featherpaw soothingly. Greenpaw's breathing slowly returned to normal.

"Willowheart, help me!" mewed Sunspot to the elder. Rainpaw remembered that Willowheart had been the former medicine cat.

"Okay…" Willowheart examined Greenpaw all over. "I don't think he has any physical wounds except that ear. Put some cobwebs on it. You might want to use some horsetail or chervil too, in case the wound is infected. Then you can give him some more coltsfoot in case he starts wheezing again, and maybe some thyme or poppy seeds, for the shock."

"Right!" Featherpaw agreed.

Rainpaw hoped that Greenpaw would be alright. That seemed like an awful lot of herbs. She looked over at Ashstar, who was organizing reinforcements.

""Tigerface, we need you. Dawnlight, yes… and Wildheart," he ordered.

"Can I go?" asked Rainpaw. Ashstar looked at her searchingly for a moment, before he answered.

"Yes. You can go. Take Cinderpaw and Branchpaw, too."

"What about Tawnypaw and Nightpaw?" asked Rainpaw.

"No, they're barely past kithood," Ashstar said. Rainpaw nodded, realising he was trying to protect his kits. He couldn't stop Bluepaw, he was almost a warrior, but he could prevent Nightpaw and Tawnypaw from fighting.

"Redpelt, you can't come!" Sunfire pushed the queen back into the nursery. "Mudkit is only two weeks old. He still needs you!"

"But I want to fight!"

"No. Stay here and protect my kits. I'll go. There's less life in me."

***

Rainpaw burst out of camp, Cinderpaw and Branchpaw hot on her paws. She could hear battle screeches up ahead and she hoped she wasn't too late.

The three apprentices pounded across the moor and leapt into battle. Bluepaw and Cinderpaw were already locked in combat with a massive brown tom. Rainpaw unsheathed her claws and squared up against a white she-cat.

Rainpaw raked her claws down the cat's belly. The cat yowled in pain and dealt her a hard blow on the head. Wincing in pain, Rainpaw grabbed her opponent's scruff and shook hard. The cat became dazed and went limp, but Rainpaw wasn't fooled. She clawed the white cat's ears and left her opponent scrabbling in the tussocks of grass.

She heard a yowl behind her and felt a weight fall on her back. Twisting round, she chomped on the new cat's tail. The cat wailed in pain and Rainpaw gave a start. It was Foxpaw!

Foxpaw hadn't recognised her. He unsheathed his claws and swiped at her fiercely.

"Foxpaw!" Rainpaw hissed.

"Rainpaw?" Foxpaw slid his claws back in surprise.

"Yes!"

"But… I can't attack you!"

Rainpaw growled. "What? You have to! I know we're friends, but we're in enough trouble with the warrior code as it is! Attack me!" she ordered.

Foxpaw shook his head. "I can't!"

"You have to!"

"I _can't_!"

"Look, I don't want to hurt you while you aren't defending yourself, it wouldn't be right!"

Foxpaw looked shocked. "You mean… _You'd_ attack _me_?"

Rainpaw shook her head in confusion. "I really wouldn't want to, okay? I just… our first loyalty must be to our Clans! I'm really, really sorry about this."

Foxpaw turned tail and sank back into the heaving mass of cats, leaving Rainpaw feeling lost and confused. Why was Foxpaw so desperate not to hurt her? She was his friend, of course, but even so…

***

The remaining RiverClan cats drew back.

"You haven't heard the last of this, Ashstar!" Bramblestar vowed.

Ashstar spat in defiance.

Rainpaw trudged back to camp feeling dejected. She had somehow managed to lose Foxpaw's friendship. Wasn't she doing the right thing, obeying the warrior code? Suddenly, she remembered Mist's words;

_You must go where your heart leads you._


	13. A Journey to StarClan

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Warriors, blah blah blah… **

A Journey to StarClan

Rainpaw's paws pounded on the moorland as she followed the Moonpool upstream. She wasn't really breaking the warrior code… She wasn't going out of her territory, and cats were allowed to visit the Moonpool…

_But that's only Clan leaders,_ a small voice in the back of her head reminded her. Rainpaw pushed the thought away and slowed down as she entered the Moonpool cavern and tentatively lapped up a few drops.

The water was so cold Rainpaw shut her eyes. It felt like she was drinking starlight. Rainpaw opened her eyes and gasped. She had left the Moonpool! She was now on a grassy stretch of moorland. There were no cats in sight, but Rainpaw could scent WindClan.

"Um… hello?" asked Rainpaw. "StarClan? Are… are you there?"

"Hey, Rainpaw!" mewed a friendly voice. A silver she-cat with grey paws, tail and ear tips had appeared behind her. Her eyes were ice-blue.

"Who are you?" Rainpaw asked

"I'm Skywing. I'm a StarClan warrior!"

"Okay," Rainpaw didn't have time to dawdle. "Will Greenpaw be okay?"

"Don't worry," Skywing purred. "His injuries aren't severe, and he has three medicine cats to look after him!"

"Good," Rainpaw was relived. Now she could get to the more important thing. "I really need your help! WindClan and RiverClan are all charging into battle and the warrior code is blocking me in on all sides! Please, I need your _help_!"

Skywing's eyes shone with wisdom far beyond her age. "It's true that you've been given a difficult path to walk," she told Rainpaw, "But I think that I might be able to help. Hmm… I have an idea. Come with me."

She disappeared into the gorse bushes, Rainpaw in hot pursuit.

"This is the StarClan camp," Skywing said. Rainpaw's breath was gone. The clearing was filled with shimmering, starry cats.

"Who… who are we going to see?" she whispered.

"Leaders who guided their Clan in times of great hardship," replied Skywing simply. She guided Rainpaw to four cats; a flame-coloured tom, a golden, spotted she-cat, a large white tom with black paws, and a black and white tom with a very long tail. And Rainpaw knew who they were – cats spoken of in reverence by the queens and elders.

"They're the… the leaders that… that made…" she gasped. Skywing nodded and completed her sentence.

"The Great Journey," she mewed solemnly. "Firestar! Leopardstar! Blackstar! Tallstar!"

The four legendary cats stood and looked at Rainpaw with warmth in their starry eyes.

"Rainpaw," Tallstar, the black and white, former WindClan leader said. "So you have come."

"Blackstar was convinced you would not." There was humour in Firestar's mew.

"Wh… you were expecting me?" asked Rainpaw in surprise. Leopardstar, the spotted RiverClan leader, nodded.

"You have many things to learn, young one, but first we must sort out your Clans."

"You remember the prophecy?" asked the large white ShadowClan leader with black paws, Blackstar. "_A storm is coming, that will toss the Clans in turmoil. And it will appear in the shape of one cat. A cat not of the Clans_…"

Rainpaw nodded. She had already guessed who this was. "Mist." But she was anxious about what was going to happen to her Clan, and all the other Clans. "What's going to happen? What can I do?"

The leaders exchanged an anxious glance.

"If the truth is told, what is happening to your Clans now… it is beyond the paws of StarClan," Firestar explained.

Rainpaw was horrified. "So we can't do _anything_?"

"Patience." Tallstar laid his tail on her shoulder. "We can guide you. Now, the first thing to do is show your Clans that Mist means no harm. You have to do this before the next Gathering. Next Gathering, I think you will find your Clans will be too enraged to listen to reason…"

Rainpaw had expected these words to overwhelm her, but to her surprise she was calm. "So what should I do?"

"We need Feathertail," said Firestar.

"Feathertail? You mean one of the journeying cats who was killed during the journey?" asked Rainpaw, hardly able to believe her ears. This had been one of her favourite kithood tales – she had asked Stormcloud to recount it so many times she knew it almost word for word.

"Yes, she was killed trying to protect the Tribe," Leopardstar explained. "As a result, she walks with StarClan and the Tribe of Endless Hunting."

"Wow." Rainpaw's head was spinning.

"Hello? Who's talking about me?" a silvery voice from behind them said. A beautiful silver tabby she-cat was padding towards them. "Oh, Rainpaw! So you've arrived. Come."

"Bye," Rainpaw mewed, as she followed Feathertail out of the clearing and into the dark forest. Rainpaw could see the lake and all the territories spread out beneath her paws. Feathertail plummeted downwards suddenly, towards the triangle of land that was RiverClan territory.

"Feathertail, why are we going to RiverClan territory?" asked Rainpaw.

"There's a cat whose destiny lies with yours," Feathertail explained, landing lightly at the RiverClan camp. It was nearing moonrise, and it looked like the sunset patrol was just returning. Rainpaw looked around to see a silver tabby she-cat with amber eyes talking to Foxpaw.

"I'm fine, Silverblaze, I told you!" Foxpaw swung away angrily. The silver tabby looked hurt.

"I was just trying to help."

"Well, I don't need any help!"

Rainpaw kneaded the ground with her paws. "My fault again?"

"Not your fault. A misunderstanding," Feathertail corrected her gently.

"Misunderstanding? I was ready to attack one of my friends!"

"Foxpaw will forgive you, I'm sure."

"How can you _be_ so sure?"

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Feathertail's eyes swept over her. Rainpaw glanced at the creamy brown tom and felt an uncomfortable warmth creep up her body.

"I feel sorry for that 'Silverblaze' cat," Rainpaw commented, looking away and feeling Feathertail's gaze on her pelt.

"Come on. I need to speak with Foxpaw," Feathertail dropped the subject. She padded up to Foxpaw and whispered his name in his ear. Foxpaw turned suddenly.

"What? Who is it?"

"Hush, young one," soothed Feathertail. " have something to tell you..."

***

By the time they left Foxpaw, moonhigh was rapidly approaching. Feathertail sped up and raced towards the mountains.

"Here. We are almost there," she mewed.

A waterfall covered a rocky overhang in the mountain. Rainpaw shivered. She could feel the cold night air, but it couldn't pierce her pelt. It was an odd sensation.

"Is this where the Tribe lives?" Rainpaw asked, thinking at the same time how any cat could possibly live somewhere so barren.

Feathertail nodded and padded toward a cave in the back of the main cave. Rainpaw stared at the cats that were sleeping, or drowsily sharing tongues. The Tribe didn't seem so different to a Clan. Feathertail flicked her tail, sending a soft jet of wind through the cave. A leaf twirled over the head of a brown she-cat, who gasped.

"It is a sign from the Tribe of Endless Hunting!" she rasped. "It is time for a Telling."

"A Telling?" murmured Rainpaw as the Tribe filed into the cave at the back.

"Yes, it is a little like a Gathering," Feathertail explained.

The cave had a pool of water in it, and there were pointed stones dotted around.

"This is the Cave of Pointed Stones," Feathertail mewed. "It is time to reveal ourselves."

"Tribe of Rushing Water! It is Feathertail, and Rainpaw!"

Rainpaw was rather surprised to be introduced like this, but she kept quiet – Feathertail would deal with this.

"Is it news about the Clans?" asked a small tabby to-be.

"In a way," replied Feathertail carefully. "Do you recall a cat named Mist on Frosty Morning?"

A muscular grey tom spat. "That traitor? What does the Tribe want with her now?"

"She must come back!" Feathertail snapped. "Look at you! You are without a Healer! Hardly a Tribe, but a band of rogues!"

"Better be rogues than ruled by a traitor!" called out a russet coloured cat.

"Will you _listen_!" hissed Feathertail. "Mist was not a traitor!"

There was a stunned silence. Feathertail recounted Mist's tale, then she turned to Rainpaw.

"I will take it from here," she murmured quietly. "I think they will listen now."

Rainpaw nodded. She blinked, and she was back at the Moonpool.


	14. Border Patrols

**DISCLAIMER: YES!!!! I finally own Warriors!**

**Erins: =appear= sorry, there's been a mix-up. You still don't own Warriors.**

**Me: Damn it…**

Border Patrols

A pair of yellow eyes gleamed in the night as a skinny grey cat flicked his tail, signalling his Clan forward.

_That sneaking RiverClan… Bramblestar will pay for accusing my warriors._

Ashstar hissed as he made out a shape in the gorse.

A flash of amber eyes and dark tabby fur.

The WindClan leader heard a rustle of pawsteps on the sparse moorland grass. No WindClan scent, except of the cats he had brought with him.

Ashstar tensed, and leapt out of the bramble bush with a yowl. Suddenly the moor was alive with screeching, wrestling cats.

RiverClan had declared war on WindClan.

***

"Foxpaw! F-Foxpaw?" Rainpaw hissed. She was back at the RiverClan camp, and she was searching for Foxpaw. Rainpaw was nervous. She knew she was being desperately reckless. She heard a rustle, and flattened herself against the ground nervously.

A creamy brown shape padded out of one of the dens and stretched its limbs slowly. Rainpaw relaxed. It was just Foxpaw. But she needed to get out of there quickly. She crossed over to him in a few quick bounds and, before he could react, dragged him into the bush.

"What's going on?" asked Foxpaw. He shook his head, and went on, "Well, anyway, I had a really strange dream! Silverblaze was talking to me and then... then _you_ appeared with a silver cat that _smelt_ like RiverClan..."

"Yeah, I already know..." Rainpaw quickly explained the situation. Foxpaw closed his open jaws.

"What? N-no way. I can't leave my Clan now! We're at war with WindClan, we need all the help we can..." he trailed off at Rainpaw's icy expression. She stared at him coldly. Had he forgotten she was a WindClan cat?

"Well, if this war with my Clan is _so_ important to you I suppose I'll go myself." She turned to go, but Foxpaw stopped her.

"R-Rainpaw, I'm sorry. I didn't think, I, I... I'm coming."

Rainpaw smiled, a little bewildered by the expression she saw in his amber eyes. What was it?

"Okay then. Let's go." She turned to head towards the greenleaf Twolegplace.

"_Now_?"

"Yes, now, did you think we were going to wait until after the sunhigh patrol or something?" asked Rainpaw, faintly irritated. "Foxpaw, we need to stop this war _right now_."

"Oh - oh, yeah."

***

"I told Mist to meet us by this border..." mewed Rainpaw as they hurried along the border that marked ThunderClan and ShadowClan territory, painfully aware that a patrol from either Clan could come and catch them out in a heartbeat.

"We don't need a war between any other Clans," Foxpaw almost read her thoughts. Rainpaw was only half listening. She had picked up Mist's scent!

"Mist!" Rainpaw yowled joyfully as the grey tabby came into view. A little too loudly perhaps. There was a mew from somewhere in the vicinity of ThunderClan territory.

"I _told_ you I scented WindClan and RiverClan!"

"Oh, you smelt their stink too?" a smooth voice came from the ShadowClan side of the border. Rainpaw's yellow eyes flew wide open in dismay as she whirled around and spotted two border patrols - ThunderClan and ShadowClan.

A white ThunderClan tom with ginger patches was disdainfully sniffing them - Rainpaw recognised the deputy, Tawnyspots, from the Gathering. She could also see the ShadowClan deputy, Redclaw, in the ShadowClan patrol.

_Fantastic. We've been caught by _two_ deputies._

"Harewhisker, what are you doing here?" hissed Redclaw to a grey and white she-cat with piercing green eyes. "Your kits can barely open their eyes!"

"But it's been _so long_ since I went on patrol!" Harewhisker begged. "The kits'll be fine. I left them with Goldenfeather anyway. _Please_ let me stay, Redclaw?"

The ShadowClan deputy nodded curtly, evidently embarrassed that her warrior was kicking up such a fuss, and turned back to Foxpaw and Rainpaw. "What are you doing here? Wait... didn't you two go to the Gathering?"

"I think I saw them too." Tawnyspots nodded. "Rockfall did mention something about a kittypet... Aha! So we're dealing with a kittypet here, are we?"

Rainpaw remembered when she had first met Mayflower and Greenpaw. Mayflower had mewed those very words. Rainpaw fluffed up her fur and spat in anger.

"I am _not_ a kittypet!"

Tawnyspots and Redclaw ignored her.

"Tawnyspots, technically they're on your side of the border, so I'll let you deal with it, okay?" Redclaw's eyes flashed – she looked furious to be making alliances with ThunderClan, but her tone gave away nothing.

"Right… if you say so, Redclaw." The ThunderClan tom gave the order for his cats to surround Foxpaw, Rainpaw and Mist.

"Get your claws off me, you filthy piece of foxdung!" Rainpaw spat as a dark brown-and-black tabby she-cat prodded her forward with one paw. The she-cat hissed softly, her pale blue eyes shining with rage.

"Leave her alone!" Foxpaw put in.

"I could defeat you in battle with one paw tied behind my back!" hissed the tabby.

"Want to test that theory?" Rainpaw unsheathed her claws.

"Shadestorm!" mewed Tawnyspots warningly. The she-cat fell silent, though her eyes still glimmered with a warning.

Soon they came to a sharp drop. It was a towering cliff of sheer stone that guarded the ThunderClan camp. Rainpaw hissed. It was too enclosed for her liking.

"Mothstar!" Tawnyspots yowled. The tawny-coloured she-cat emerged from what Rainpaw assumed from the leader's den, and looked at the three prisoners with a disdainful expression.

"RiverClan. ThunderClan. And..." Mothstar drew in Mist's scent. Her eyes widened and she whispered, "Tribe."


	15. Infected Thorn

**DISCLAIMER: I'm too depressed to do a disclaimer... but I'd really reather not get sued... =sighs= You know how it goes, I don't own Warriors, blah blah blah.**

Infected Thorn

"Tribe?" the black-and-brown tabby, Shadestorm, pushed to the front of the throng of ThunderClan cats. "What in StarClan's name is a _Tribe_?"

"I... I don't know." Mothstar shook her tawny head in confusion. "You all know that I'm distantly related to the great ThunderClan leader, Bramblestar, who went on the journey to the sun-drown-place... Maybe I just instinctively know the scent."

"Thinks a lot of herself, that one, doesn't she?" Foxpaw muttered. Rainpawmanaged a soft purr.

"But!" Mothstar mewed in defiance. "These are intruders!"

Rainpaw's heart sank like a stone. Mist whispered to Rainpaw and Foxpaw, "I believe we shall have to fight our way out."

"Wh-what?" yelped Foxpaw.

"Shh," Mist tilted her head slightly towards the ThunderClan cats. "When I saw _now_..."

"They are a threat to our prey supply!" cried Mothstar, to mews of approval.

"Attack quickly, then flee..."

"We shall chase them out!"

Rainpaw unsheathed her claws and tensed her muscles.

The ThunderClan cats all turned to their leader. They had their backs to Mist, Rainpaw, and Foxpaw.

"_Now_!!" Mist yowled. Rainpaw raked her claws across the nearest ThunderClan cat, then dashed out of the ThunderClan camp, cursing the trees and roots for hindering her movement.

At the ShadowClan border, the three cats halted, panting. Rainpaw recovered first, used to running long distances.

"We have to carry on," she mewed decisively. "If we're caught here again, we're crowfood."

Mist and Foxpaw mewed their agreement, and the three cats slipped warily out of Clan territory.

***

"Can't you go any faster?" Rainpaw drummed her paws on the ground impatiently as Foxpaw struggled to keep up with them.

"It's not my fault!" Foxpaw gasped. As he drew closer, Rainpaw noticed that he was limping. "I think I've got a thorn in my paw!"

He licked his forepaw. Rainpaw looked at it.

"Great StarClan, you've got the whole forest in there!" Rainpaw cried. The creamy tom had two large thorns driven deep into his pad. The flesh around them was red and puffy. "I think it's infected…"

"Well, we can't do anything about it. There's no medicine cat here," Foxpaw mewed defensively. "I say we keep going." He licked the infected paw again and winced from the pain.

"No," came a sharp mew. It was Mist. "Do you remember? I got training to be a Tribe Healer."

"Oh - of course." Rainpaw remembered. Mist examined the wound closely.

"It is infected," she announced. "You are not going anyway. I think we'll need some dried oak leaves or chervil to stop the infection."

Rainpaw spotted a large oak tree with leaves scattered around the trunk. "Will these do?"

Mist sniffed them. "Yes. There won't be many, as the long-sun season is approaching, but we will have to make do."

"Long-sun?" asked Rainpaw in confusion.

"Um... I do not know what you would call it... the season when sunrise is early and sunset is late, and when the hawk fledglings learn to fly."

"Oh, you mean greenleaf? _Ouch_!" exclaimed Foxpaw as Mist pulled one of the thorns out of his pad.

Mist nodded, a thorn beneath her teeth. She spat it out and mewed to Rainpaw, "I'll work on this second thorn. Can you see if you can find some marigold? It will be quicker at healing the wound."

"Sure. What does it look like?"

"It is a small golden flower."

Rainpaw nodded, and returned quickly with a small bunch of marigold in her jaws.

"There wasn't much," she admitted, dropping the bundle next to Mist. Mist looked relieved.

"It doesn't matter. Could you chew some into pulp for me?"

The black WindClan apprentice nodded and obediently started chewing the marigold between her jaws, careful not to swallow any of the precious flower.

Mist took the pulp from Rainpaw and applied it to the swollen wound on Foxpaw's pad.

"It stings," complained Foxpaw.

"It will for a while," Mist told him.

They waited for a few heartbeats.

"Ahhh..." sighed Foxpaw. "That's much better."

"Good." Mist mewed. "Hold that on there for little bit more, and then see if you can put weight on it."

Foxpaw shakily put his paw down and tested his weight on it.

"I think I'll be okay," he reported. Rainpaw breathed a sigh of relief.

The sun was beginning to set.

"We could rest up here for the night, and keep going in the morning," Mist suggested. Rainpaw looked longingly at the territory beyond. They could easily travel further before nightfall... But she knew Mist's suggestion was sensible if they wanted to keep Foxpaw's wound clean.

"Okay," she mewed. "Let's rest."

***

The next dawn, Rainpaw woke up early. She breathed deeply in the light chill of the morning, her breath billowing out in clouds.

Foxpaw was snuffling in his sleep. Rainpaw wondered if he always did that. Mist was curled into a ball, breathing so lightly Rainpaw was worried if she was ill. But when she felt Mist's pulse, the Tribe cat's heart rate was normal.

Rainpaw padded to the edge of the wood they were resting in. She could see the Moonpool, and her territory beyond.

Her heart ached with sadness. What would happen to Greenpaw, when he woke up in Sunspot's to find his friend gone? And what would Wildheart think? Rainpaw could imagine the sadness in his eyes...

And what about Ashstar? The kind leader had taken her in, but would he assume she had fled back to her kittypet ways? Cinderpaw and Bluepaw would definitely assume that... Rainpaw imagined her glowing triumph that she had finally overcome the 'lost kittypet'.

Rainpaw felt a terrible, gut-wrenching pang of homesickness.

_Oh, StarClan. I may have given up the hard-earned respect my Clanmates have for me. I hope this is what you wanted._


	16. The Thunderpath

**DISCLAIMER: Okay, you caught me. I own the Warriors series.**

**...I really hope you didn't fall for that...**

The Thunderpath

The three cats padded past WindClan territory, only meeting one patrol, which they avoided. Rainpaw spotted Branchpaw on it, and wondered why the apprentice looked so pleased with himself. When Branchpaw, Mayflower, Dawnlight, Patchfur, and Tawnypaw's scents grew faint, Rainpaw, Foxpaw, and Mist set off again.

As they walked, Rainpaw wondered why Mayflower hadn't taken her apprentice, Greenpaw, on patrol with her. Maybe he was still in the medicine cat's den. Was he still recovering? But Skywing had said he would be fine! She wasn't wrong, was she?

Rainpaw tried to push the thought out of her head.

"Is your paw okay?" she asked Foxpaw, noticing he was limping slightly.

"Yes." Foxpaw gave his pad a quick lick. Mist's herbs had worked - the pad was no longer swollen - but the wound was still open, and Rainpaw could see dried blood between his paws.

"Are you sure?" Rainpaw was genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine," Foxpaw insisted.

"Are you-"

"I'm _fine_!" snapped Foxpaw.

"Sorry!" Rainpaw shrank away from him. Foxpaw sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry," he apologised. "I'm just annoyed because Bramblestar told me that my warrior ceremony was to be yesterday. But then..." He sighed again.

"Oh." Rainpaw could only imagine how terrible that must have been for him. To have the one thing he wanted most be snatched away at the last second. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Foxpaw assured her. "I really don't mind." When Rainpaw gave him a scathing look, he smiled. "Well, okay, maybe I do mind a little. But not as much as I could mind, because I'm with y-" He stopped.

"Go on." Rainpaw was curious.

"Because... Because I'm fulfilling a prophecy for StarClan," Foxpaw mewed quickly. Rainpaw was sure that wasn't what he had been going to say, but Foxpaw had already hurried ahead to speak with Mist. Frustrated, Rainpaw gave up.

***

Soon a rancid stench filled the air. Foxpaw wrinkled his nose.

"A Thunderpath," he mewed in disgust, as the black Twoleg thing came into view.

At the edge the three cats stopped. A monster roared past, buffeting them with hot air that stank of crowfood.

"Well, we cannot wait here forever," Mist mewed, putting one paw on the Thunderpath. She looked back at Rainpaw, concerned. "Are you alright?"

Rainpaw had grown rigid with fear. This was a Thunderpath. The last time she had seen one of these was...

_"Here, let's cross the Thunderpath, Rainpaw," Stormcloud encouraged._

_"But it stinks!" Rainpaw wrinkled her nose._

_"Don't worry - I'll show you what to do. Come after me."_

_"But-" Rainpaw's ears, sharp for a kittypet, had picked up a roar in the distance._

_"Don't worry. I'll be fine." Stormcloud fixed her bright green eyes on Rainpaw's for a heartbeat, then turned away and began crossing the Thunderpath._

_"No!" Rainpaw cried as the monster swung around a corner. "Stormcloud! _Stormcloud_!"_

_She was afraid to move, and hated herself for her cowardice. _

_"Rainpaw!" yowled Stormcloud. She tried to reach the other side of the Thunderpath, but the monster was right on top of her. Rainpaw shut her eyes in fear._

_Rainpaw heard a high-pitched yowl and a sickening crack. She opened her eyes a crack, and saw her mother's broken body lying on the Thunderpath._

_"No! _No_!"_

Rainpaw could sense it all so vividly - the glaring eyes of the monster as it rounded the bend - her mother's yowl as death approached - Stormcloud's leaf-green eyes, wide with fear.

"I can't do it," she whispered brokenly. "I can't."

"What? Why?" Foxpaw was bewildered.

"My mother died on a Thunderpath," explained Rainpaw in a whisper. "She never lived to see me join WindClan."

"Oh... your mother's not..." Foxpaw's eyes burned with grief for Rainpaw.

"I can't. I can't do it, Mist."

"You _can_," Mist mewed with surprising force. Rainpaw looked up in surprise.

"I..."

"Rainpaw, you must stop living in the past," Mist urged. She looked up at Foxpaw. "Why don't you cross the Thunderpath, and wait for us at the other side?"

"Oh - I..." at first Foxpaw looked confused, but then he seemed to understand that Mist wanted to speak to Rainpaw alone. "Okay."

He pricked his ears, and then, sensing no monsters, crossed the Thunderpath in one swift movement. When he reached the other side, Rainpaw let out a breath that she didn't know she'd been holding.

"Now," mewed Mist seriously. "Rainpaw, your mother died quite a while ago. Am I correct?"

Rainpaw nodded.

"Yes. Your mother would want you to grieve, but I am sure that she would want you to get on with your life after you had stopped grieving. You have lost someone you love. It is understandable that you were to be unhappy for a time. Now, I know nothing about Clan boundaries, but there is a living, breathing cat who loves you also."

Rainpaw cocked her head in confusion. "What? But... I don't understand."

Mist angled her ears towards Foxpaw, who was patiently waiting on the other side of the Thunderpath. "Foxpaw."

"Foxpaw?" Rainpaw almost laughed. "_Foxpaw_? You're joking, right?"

Mist shook her head solemnly. "No joke."

Actually, when Rainpaw thought about it, Mist hadn't been the only one to suggest this. Feathertail had mentioned it, when she was taking Rainpaw to the Tribe.

And it also made a lot of sense. It would explain a lot of things, why Foxpaw didn't want to attack her during the battle. And why he had been so hurt when he had found out that Rainpaw was willing to attack him. And why he had said at one point, 'why does the warrior code have to be this way?'

That reminded Rainpaw of something. "But that's against the warrior code! He... he can't love me!"

_And I can't love him, _she thought desperately. But she knew that she did, from the tip of her tail to the tips of her ears. So much she thought her heart would burst.

"I do not know about this warrior code," Mist mewed. "But I know that he does love you."

Rainpaw knew that there would be uproar when they went back to their separate Clans. They would have to keep it secret. She would have to keep it secret from Greenpaw too... Rainpaw thought her heart would rip in two. What would Greenpaw ever say if he found out?

But then she remembered that Foxpaw would have had to keep it secret for all this time - from his Clanmates, from his leader, from _her_. Suddenly Rainpaw felt terribly sorry for him.

"So," Mist whispered from behind her. Rainpaw jumped - she had quite forgotten Mist was there. "Will you cross the Thunderpath?"

Rainpaw looked across the Thunderpath at the creamy brown pelt and amber eyes she loved most. There was friendliness, and something else, in his eyes.

She nodded and put one paw on the Thunderpath. "Yes."


	17. Reunited

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Warriors (oh, come on, I can't come up with something original every chapter!)**

Reunited

Rainpaw skidded across to the other bank of the Thunderpath, her heart thudding painfully. Her breath came in gasps, and she looked across at the crowfood-smelling path. She had made it.

Mist hurried over the now silent Thunderpath to join them.

"Well done," she purred. "I knew you could do it."

Rainpaw grinned.

"So, what made you do it?" asked Foxpaw.

"Erm, well..." Rainpaw stuttered, remembering the conversation she and the Tribe queen had just had. "Mist told me there was really nothing to be afraid of, and, er..."

Foxpaw shrugged, seeming to believe this story. "Okay. Anyway, let's get on to the mountains."

"We're almost there!" Mist was nearly dancing. "I can feel it!"

She capered on ahead like a newborn kit. "Come on!"

Rainpaw and Foxpaw grinned at each other, then followed.

***

"This ground is _hard_," Foxpaw complained. He had taken to limping again.

"Oh, don't be such a prickly furball!" Mist mewed brightly. "It's been _days_ since you injured that paw!"

She bounced ahead of the other two for a second. Rainpaw smiled at how much Mist had changed. She was no longer the solemn-faced, serious cat she had once been.

Suddenly Mist stopped. She examined a rock, and a stream that was babbling just beyond it.

"What's wrong?" asked Rainpaw, puzzled.

"Nothing." Mist gave an excited little bounce. "This is the beginning of the Tribe's territory!"

She rushed on excitedly, with Rainpaw and Foxpaw just behind her.

"I think... just close to here..." she murmured. "Aha!"

She seemed to have picked up a scent. "Come on, you two!"

When Rainpaw and Foxpaw rounded a corner, they saw Mist being confronted by three cats, with pelts streaked with what seemed to be mud. One was large and muscular, while the other two were small and lean.

"M-Mist?" gasped one of the smaller cats in surprise.

"Leaf!" cried Mist joyfully. "Fish! Mud!"

The Tribe cat called Leaf gave a little _mrrow_ of joy and she and Mist touched muzzles.

"Mist, I've missed you so much!" Leaf meowed.

"And I've missed you too, Leaf!" answered Mist, happiness glinting in her eyes. "Oh - Rainpaw, Foxpaw, this is my sister, Leaf That Falls From Tree. Leaf, this is Rainpaw and Foxpaw. They helped me back to the Tribe."

Rainpaw expected her to do the strange little paw gesture that Mist always did, but Leaf's blue eyes were focused on Rainpaw in awe.

"Um... hi?" Rainpaw mewed tentatively.

"You... you're that cat that was with Feathertail!" Leaf gasped. "She is, isn't she, Mud?"

The muscular, brown tom nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. Feathertail brought you... you helped convince us that Mist was innocent!"

"Well..." the eyes of every cat were on her now, and Rainpaw was starting to feel distinctly uncomfortable. "I suppose I was, but I just wanted Mist to get home safe..."

The Tribe cats started to stare at Mist now. "It must be very important to both StarClan and the Tribe of Endless Hunting," mewed Mud. His deep mew was respectful.

"It is." Foxpaw dipped his head. "Our two Clans are in a war at the moment over this."

"Oh, no." Leaf sounded worried. "We must have caused a lot of trouble for your Clans."

Rainpaw shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Your Cl- I mean Tribe, really needs a leader. I mean a Healer."

"You're right," Fish, the other prey-hunter, mewed. "It has been chaos. Mist -"

The grey Tribe she-cat looked up.

"We offer our sincerest apologies. Please, return to our Tribe."

Mist's eyes brimmed with happiness. "Of course."

She looked at Foxpaw and Rainpaw. "Stay with us," she begged.

Rainpaw shook her head regretfully. "We have to return to our Clans," she explained.

"Okay," Mist mewed cheerfully. It seemed that she wasn't expecting a yes. "At least stay a night."

"Can't see the harm in that," Foxpaw shrugged.

"Okay!" agreed Rainpaw.

***

Rainpaw watched in delight as Mist greeted her Tribemates.

"Mouse! Oh, you've had your kits! They're so sweet!"

A brown queen smiled. "Thanks, Mist. I knew that you would come back, whether we wanted you to or not."

"Do they have names?" Mist whispered.

Mouse nodded. "This is Flight of Startled Heron and Moon That Shines on Cavetop."

The two tiny scraps mewled and nestled into their mother's belly.

"Thank you," Mist kept mewing. "Thank you for taking me home."

That night Foxpaw and Rainpaw slept next to each other in the cold cave. Rainpaw shivered. Now she understood why Mist's grey fur was so thick. It was so cold in the mountainside. She pressed her fur against Foxpaw's. His eyes glowed slightly.

"Rainpaw, I… there's something that…" he began awkwardly.

Rainpaw stopped him. "I know, Foxpaw. _I know_. And I do, too."

Foxpaw blinked. "But… what about our Clans?"

The black WindClan apprentice purred. "At the moment… I can only say this. _Who cares_?"

***

The next morning, Mist bade them farewell.

"I will always be in debt to you. You have brought me home, and earned back my Tribemates' trust in me."

"It was nothing," Rainpaw assured her. "Goodbye!"

"Goodbye!"

The two apprentices padded down the mountain and onto the grassy land that surrounded the mountains. The grass felt deliciously soft on Rainpaw's aching paws.

They padded on for the length of the day. The sun was beginning to set.

"We need to find somewhere to sleep," mewed Rainpaw.

"D'you reckon that Twoleg nest is abandoned?" asked Foxpaw, nodding to an old stone nest. Rainpaw gave a sniff.

"No," she mewed. "There's a Twoleg stench coming from it."

"Oh, you're right." Foxpaw looked crestfallen. He opened his mouth and drew in the air's scent. "I think there's a kittypet in there, too."

Rainpaw nodded. She narrowed her eyes. They would need to avoid the kittypet - they didn't know if it was fierce or not. They didn't want any injuries. Rainpaw knew that Cinderpaw and Bluepaw would have scorned her for being wary of a kittypet, but _she_ knew that not all were as round-bellied and helpless as most Clan cats believed.

"I think that's it there," hissed Foxpaw, nodding towards a plump grey tabby tom.

Rainpaw sniffed. There was something a little familiar about that scent...

And it was definitely there, milky and reminiscent of her mother…

"That's my brother!" she cried loudly. The young tabby's head whipped around. His yellow eyes were wide and afraid.

"Who's there?" he asked loudly.

"I'm your sister!" Rainpaw cried, jumping out of the bush. The cat jumped.

"I- I guess you do smell kind of familiar," he admitted. "I'm Max. What's your name?"

"Rainpaw. This is my friend Foxpaw."

"Foxpaw? Rainpaw? That's… a little weird…. Where are your housefolk? Do you live 'round here?"

"I don't live with Twolegs anymore. When our mother died, I joined her birth Clan."

Max shook his head. "I don't really understand this, but... okay. If you're willing…" He blinked shyly. "If you're willing, you can stay with me tonight, if you want. I'm sure my housefolk wouldn't mind."

"Well..." Rainpaw shot a glance at Foxpaw, who shook his head. "Sorry, Max. I can't live like a kittypet anymore." She didn't want to return to the softness, the luxury of kittypet life. The last thing she wanted was to be enticed away from her Clan life.

"Suit yourself," Max shrugged. He seemed unbothered by Rainpaw's rejection. "I'll stay with you."

He seemed a bit daunted by the Clan cats – Rainpaw was sure that he still wasn't convinced that they were siblings - but settled down to sleep with them nonetheless. Rainpaw drifted off to sleep with Max and Foxpaw beside her.


	18. A One Sided Love

**DISCLAIMER: This may come as a _huge_ shock to you all, but I actually _don't _own Warriors! =collective gasp=**

A One Sided Love

That night Rainpaw had a dream. It was strange, and very mixed-up. There was a definite scent of milk, and Rainpaw felt very small and helpless, like a newborn kit. She opened her jaws to ask what was going on, but only a mewl left her mouth.

"Hush, kits," mewed a soothing voice. _Stormcloud! _Rainpaw squeaked in joy, and a tongue rasped over her small black body. She felt two more squirming bodies beside hers. Her vision was blurred, but she could make out a white she-kit, and a grey tabby kit. Rainpaw was confused, but she had a feeling, in her subconscious mind, that they were her littermates.

Rainpaw's subconscious mind was wild with excitement, but her conscious mind didn't seem to care that much. She mewled quietly, and wriggled against her mother's belly.

The black cat awoke with a start. To her relief, she was back in her apprentice body. She tried to remember her dream, but the details were trickling away like water in the stream. She looked across at her two companions. Max was still asleep. He looked rather cold, and Rainpaw remembered that he would probably be used to a warm Twoleg nest at night. She looked over at Foxpaw. Her stomach gave a sickening jolt. He was gone.

"Foxpaw!" Rainpaw yowled.

"Shh!" mewed a voice. Foxpaw emerged from a bush. "I was just out looking for the best route to take when you woke up. Now stop yowling, you'll wake the kittypet."

Rainpaw's fur bristled indignantly. "He's my brother!"

"You're right." Foxpaw brushed his pelt against Rainpaw's. "But he's still a kittypet."

"I wonder if he'll wake up soon? We want to get back home while it's still light."

"I can help," Foxpaw offered. Before Rainpaw could stop him, he darted up to Max and prodded him gently. "Max! Max! We have to go, and your sister wants to say goodbye!"

"Hmm-huh?" mumbled Max, raising his head. "Rainpaw? You have to go?"

Rainpaw nodded.

"Oh, but Rainpaw!" Max's eyes flew open. "We've only just met! Why don't... why don't you find yourself a nice family of housefolk? I mean..." He broke off at Rainpaw's expression.

"I'm sorry, Max," Rainpaw mewed, her eyes pained. "I can't live like that. After living like this... I couldn't."

Max nodded, swallowing painfully. "I understand," he mewed quietly. "Each cat has his or her own path to walk, and sometimes that path is not rightly satisfied where they were born."

Rainpaw blinked. She pressed her muzzle briefly to Max's flank. "Thanks for understanding. I'll... I'll see you."

Foxpaw had already started walking away. Rainpaw dashed after him.

"You could have been a bit nicer."

"Oh, sure, but come on… He was a bit of a mousebrain…"

***

Foxpaw experimentally dabbed WindClan territory. "Erm... have you ever wondered what we're going to say...?"

"...I see what you mean..." mewed Rainpaw slowly. "You know, I can hardly go up to Ashstar and say 'Hey, Ashstar, I just ran away with a rival cat and a Tribe outcast to take the Tribe outcast home! Now you can be at peace with RiverClan,'"

"Hmm... maybe I'd better come with you."

"No!" cried Rainpaw in alarm. "What would Ashstar think if he saw how much I cared for you?"

Foxpaw looked worried. "Okay, I guess... I know that Silverblaze will vouch for me, at least."

"Don't worry, I'll be okay," Rainpaw assured him. "I'll have Greenpaw, he'll never go against me."

"Okay." Foxpaw touched muzzles with Rainpaw. "Goodbye."

Rainpaw twined her tail in Foxpaw's one last time, then dashed across the familiar moor to the camp.

She slowed down when she reached the bramble bushes, and pushed her way through them, adrenaline pumping through her veins.

"_Rainpaw_!!"

A tortoiseshell furball streaked across the camp and pounced on Rainpaw.

"Where - have - you - been?" Greenpaw marked every word with a paw to Rainpaw's head.

"_Ouch_! Greenpaw, calm down!" Rainpaw gasped, pulling away from her fellow apprentice. She glanced across the camp and saw Cinderpaw looking at them with a sour expression on her face.

"So, the kittypet has returned," she drawled, padding slowly over to them.

"Cinderpaw." Rainpaw acknowledged her politely, but with no friendliness.

Greenpaw looked embarrassed, and Cinderpaw's expression hardened.

"Um... what did I do?" asked Rainpaw.

"It's Cinder_sky_," the light ginger she-cat mewed pointedly. "I'm a warrior now. So are Branchfoot and Bluestone. And Featherflight's a full medicine cat - although _technically _she's still an apprentice since Sunspot's still alive. So don't feel _too_ bad, 'kay, kitty?"

"Oh." Rainpaw's insides were burning with envy. _Just remember what you did for the Clans,_ she reminded herself. "Greenpaw, are you...?"

Greenpaw shook his head. "I wanted to be made a warrior with you," he said softly. "I knew you'd come back."

Rainpaw stared at Greenpaw's eyes in horror. His eyes were burning with the same fierce expression that was so often in Foxpaw's.

_No,_ she moaned inwardly. _Greenpaw can't be in love with me too!_

"Rainpaw? You - Rainpaw?" Ashstar hurried out of his den. "Rainpaw, you came back! You-" he was suddenly stern, "have a lot of explaining to do."

"I know, Ashstar, I'm sorry," Rainpaw looked down at her paws. "It was... I was called by StarClan."

"Excuse me, Ashstar, if I may interrupt...?" It was Tigerface. He didn't wait for an answer. "Rainpaw, are you a medicine cat?"

"No, but-"

"Are you a Clan leader?"

"Of course not, but-"

"There!" Tigerface sounded triumphant. "Ashstar, dreams from StarClan don't appear to apprentices!"

"Will you listen to me?" Rainpaw burst out, frustrated. "Ashstar, please can we talk without such a crowd?"

She expected Ashstar to flatly refuse, to tell her that anything she had to say could be said to everyone, but, to her surprise, Ashstar nodded. "Come to my den. Rockfall, Wildheart... you come too."

Rainpaw's mentor looked surprised to be singled out, but followed his leader, deputy, and apprentice to Ashstar's den.

"Now, Rainpaw," Ashstar mewed, sitting down. "Tell us what has happened."

Rainpaw swallowed, her mouth dry, and she began to speak. She started from the moment when Stormcloud had given her the prophecy until when she had pushed her way into camp a few heartbeats ago.

Ashstar said nothing during Rainpaw's whole speech. When Rainpaw at last fell silent, he mewed, "Rockfall, organise a patrol. We need to speak with RiverClan."

"Are you sure they will listen to reason?" asked Rockfall. "They ignored us last time."

"If Foxpaw has told them the same story Rainpaw has told us, they should not be difficult to convince," Ashstar answered. He turned to Rainpaw. "Rainpaw, you come with us. We leave at sunhigh."

***

Rainpaw padded down to the fresh-kill pile and chose a plump rabbit. She had only just realized how hungry she was - her last meal had been yesterday.

Greenpaw padded up to her. "Hi, Rainpaw," he mewed. Rainpaw remembered the love she had seen in his eyes. He would be heartbroken if she told him she didn't love him back... but it had to be done.

"Greenpaw, I have to tell you something," she mewed loudly. Greenpaw's eyes shone with excitement.

"I've got something to say to you, too!"

_Oh, no..._ Rainpaw thought as she and Greenpaw left camp quietly.

"Greenpaw, I..." she started, but Greenpaw interrupted.

"It's okay," he mewed. "I love you, too."

Rainpaw's heart twisted with pity. "Greenpaw, I'm so sorry. Please don't be angry, but... I don't love you."

The light died from Greenpaw's eyes, and his tortoiseshell pelt seemed to dull. "You - what?"

"I don't love you. I'm so, so sorry, Greenpaw. I'm in love with someone else."

Greenpaw's eyes burned with another emotion. Rainpaw's pelt prickled with sadness as she realized what it was - _hate_.

"Well, I hope you're very happy together!" he hissed, and he turned tail and stalked back to camp, his tail twitching furiously. Rainpaw stared after her friend miserably.

_This is all my fault, _she thought. _Greenpaw would have been the perfect mate – he's sweet, sincere, and… _WindClan_. Oh, Foxpaw, why did I have to love _you_?_


	19. Warrior Ceremony

**DISCLAIMER: The three Erin people own Warriors... I don't... I think their names are Cherith Baldry, Victoria Holmes, and Kate Cary...**

Warrior Ceremony

Rainpaw's heart was heavy as she made her way across WindClan territory with the other cats chosen for the patrol. Any other time she would have been ecstatic, as she was at the head of the patrol with Ashstar, but now she could just think about Greenpaw.

Since their meeting, Greenpaw had refused to speak to her, and had spent all his time with Cindersky. Cindersky was delighted to see Rainpaw so miserable, and she seemed even more pleased that Greenpaw no longer liked Rainpaw.

Rainpaw left Ashstar's side and swiftly padded up to Greenpaw.

"Greenpaw, I'm rea-" she began, but Greenpaw interrupted.

"Cindersky, do you hear an annoying little buzzing sound?" he mewed loudly to Cindersky.

"Hey, Greenpaw, do you think me and Rainpaw could have a talk?" asked Cindersky sweetly. Greenpaw shrugged, and then stalked off.

Cindersky's face hardened. "Listen, Rainpaw," she spat.

"No, Cindersky, you listen." Rainpaw had had quite enough of Cindersky's superior behaviour. "You are going to let me make friends with Greenpaw again."

"Or what?" sneered Cindersky. "What if he doesn't want to be friends? I am a warrior now, remember. I get to boss you around."

"Excuse me?" Rainpaw's eyes widened.

"You heard me," Cindersky's eyes narrowed. "Now, scat, _apprentice_."

Rainpaw blinked, hurt, and scurried back to Ashstar's side.

"Is that them...?" he was muttering to himself. Rainpaw squinted into the distance. She could make out a couple of sleek, feline shapes.

As the WindClan cats drew closer, Rainpaw could make out the RiverClan cats. They were dripping wet from swimming across the river. Rainpaw shuddered. She would never _ever _see how RiverClan could bear water.

"Bramblestar." Ashstar acknowledged the tabby RiverClan leader with a formal nod.

"Ashstar." Rainpaw could see that Bramblestarpaw was trying to stop his pelt from bristling. _It must be hard to act civilly around someone you launched into battle with last, _Rainpaw realized.

"Do not worry, my friend," mewed Bramblestar, taking a step forward. "We have come to talk peaceably with you."

Ashstar forced the fur on his spine to lie flat. "You're right. I assume that Foxpaw told you the same story that Rainpaw told me?"

Bramblestar nodded. "It is highly interesting, isn't it?"

"True," mewed Ashstar. "But it is undoubtedly true."

"You think so?"

"Of course!" said Ashstar in astonishment. "I trust the word of my apprentices!"

"Yes, but... on the word of two apprentices, both barely out of the nursery?" queried Bramblestar. "How can you be sure they weren't just playing a silly game and it all became rather... real?"

Rainpaw was the one fighting to stay calm now. How dare he? What would drive her to make up something as serious as this?

She chanced a glance at Foxpaw. His tail was straight up in the air in anger, and his pelt was bristling freely. Fury glinted in his amber eyes.

"It seems your apprentice thinks differently," Ashstar pointed out coolly, waving his tail in Foxpaw's direction.

Bramblestar looked over at Foxpaw in surprise. "Foxpaw? Do you have something you would like to say?"

Foxpaw drew a breath. He looked so nervous, Rainpaw thought fondly, standing in front of the two Clan leaders and representatives of the Clans.

"Yes! I _do _have something I want to say!" Foxpaw burst out. "Bramblestar, how _could _you accuse us of lying? We can go back to the mountains right away and bring back Mist and the whole Tribe, and _they_ will tell you that we aren't lying! "

The dark tabby blinked, stunned. He turned to Ashstar. "Can we continue this conversation tonight? At the Gathering?"

"Of course." the grey tom dipped his head, and motioned for his Clan to follow him. Rainpaw glanced at Foxpaw. He was trembling under the glare of his leader.

"Foxpaw. My den. _Immediately_."

***

"That wasn't the reaction I was hoping for," Ashstar sat down in his den with a sigh. Rainpaw looked around awkwardly.

"I know, but... hopefully Foxpaw will convince him?" Rainpaw didn't mean it to come out as a question, but the grey tabby was very daunting.

"Maybe." Ashstar gave another heavy sigh. Suddenly, his mew became more businesslike. "Anyway, I think that this Clan needs more warriors."

"More... warriors?" Rainpaw was puzzled. "But Cindersky, Bluestone and Branchfoot just became warriors."

"Oh, I know, but you and Greenpaw trained with them," Ashstar explained. "You and Greenpaw should have been made warriors with them, but you were gone at the time, and Greenpaw didn't seem to want to be made a warrior when you weren't here."

It was Rainpaw's turn to sigh. Whatever loyalty Greenpaw had ever felt towards her was gone now.

Luckily Ashstar didn't hear her, and continued with his rant. "So, it'll be today!"

"Huh? What?" Rainpaw shook her head.

"Your warrior ceremony!"

"W-warrior?" Rainpaw could hardly believe her ears. "I'm going to be a warrior?"

"Yes!" Ashstar seemed pleased. "Now, go and tell Greenpaw."

"G-Greenpaw?" Rainpaw's heart sank, but she raced out of Ashstar's den and spotted Greenpaw sharing tongues with Cindersky. She felt a pang of loss.

Any other time she would have pounced on him in glee and told him the good news, but now she slowly padded up to him.

"Oh, it's just you." Greenpaw looked up coldly.

"Um, Greenpaw? Ashstar said that our warrior ceremony is today."

Greenpaw's eyes lit up momentarily.

"That's great!" purred Cindersky. Rainpaw swung away, her throat burning with regret for their lost friendship.

***

"Would all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather under the Tallrock for a Clan meeting!"

Ashstar's loud yowl rang out around camp. Rainpaw drew her paw over her face one last time and bounded across camp to take her place beside Greenpaw atop the Tallrock. Rainpaw glanced at Greenpaw hopefully, but he looked away pointedly.

Ashstar began speaking. "I, Ashstar, leader of WindClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these two apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn." He turned his yellow eyes on the now trembling apprentices. "Rainpaw, Greenpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect this Clan, even at cost of your lives?"

Rainpaw shook with anticipation as she replied quietly, "I do."

"I do," Greenpaw echoed her.

"Then by the power of StarClan I give your your warrior names. Greenpaw, from this moment you shall be known as Greenfrost. StarClan honours your determination and courage, and welcome you as a full warrior of WindClan."

Ashstar stooped and rested his muzzle on Greenfrost's head. Greenfrost licked Ashstar's shoulder respectfully and stepped back.

"And Rainpaw." Ashstar's yellow eyes burned into Rainpaw's identically coloured ones for a second. "From this moment you shall be known as Rainstorm. StarClan honours your judgement and bravery, and honour you as a full warrior of WindClan."

A trembling Rainstorm licked Ashstar's shoulder as he rested his muzzle on her head. The world around her seemed to grow foggy as Ashstar stepped back and the Clan chanted their new names.

"Greenfrost! Rainstorm! Greenfrost! Rainstorm!"

Rainstorm glanced at the shapes in the crowd and saw their eyes glittering with respect. She was overwhelmed, and she fought not to pass out with happiness.

"It is nearly moonhigh." Ashstar lifted his eyes to the skies and Rainpaw could make out some pale, glittering shapes; the first stars. "In accordance with tradition, Rainstorm and Greenfrost must sit in silent vigil until dawn, and guard the camp alone while we sleep."

Rainstorm nodded, and Greenfrost solemnly copied her.

Rainstorm settled down in the centre of camp, and thought about what had happened up to now.

Strange images fluttered to the surface of her mind - the lifeless shape of Stormcloud lying on the Thunderpath; the irritation that flashed through her as Mayflower called her 'just a kittypet'; the delight of her first kill in the Clan; her rivalry with Cindersky when she was an apprentice; her first Gathering; the creamy brown RiverClan apprentice she had met; her strange dream concerning a grey cat; her battle with Mist on the moor; her paws pounding as she dashed to the Moonpool; Feathertail leading her to the Tribe; trying to convince Foxpaw to join her; escaping from the ThunderClan camp; the thorns in Foxpaw's pad; her terror at crossing the Thunderpath; Mist's joy at being accepted by the Tribe; finding her brother again; her jealousy that Cindersky was a warrior before her; the hate that had burned in Greenfrost's eyes.

For a second Rainstorm forgot about her sadness as she reflected upon one fact: she was a warrior.


	20. Confessions

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly Warriors was not my creation... BUT! I have asked for Warriors for my birthday! _And _Christmas!**

Confessions

A bird chirruped, picking it's way through the heather on the moor. Rainstorm watched the pinkish streaks of light slowly blot out Silverpelt, and the night.

Dawnlight stood up and stretched her limbs. Her jaws gaped in a wide yawn, and she made her way over to Tawnypaw and Nightpaw, prodding Nightpaw awake for the dawn patrol.

_Tawnypaw and Nightpaw are the only apprentices left now, _Rainstorm realised. _But, then again, Sunfire's kits should be apprenticed soon. That'll make up for the lost numbers._

Dawnlight had succeeded in waking up the rest of the dawn patrol. She looked over at Rainstorm and Greenfrost and smiled.

"It's okay!" she called to them. "You can speak now. Your vigil is over."

"Thank StarClan!" Rainstorm yawned. "I never knew the night would be so _long_!"

Nightpaw purred. Rainstorm was pleased that he didn't sound at all bitter that he and his sister were the only apprentices left.

She looked tentatively at Greenfrost. He looked tired, and didn't look away, lifting Rainstorm's spirits slightly.

"Hi, Greenfrost," she mewed quietly. "The vigil is quite cold, isn't it?"

"Fairly," mewed Greenfrost stiffly. Rainstorm smiled.

"Are you talking to me again?"

"Maybe..." Greenfrost mewed slowly. "I thought about everything during that vigil..."

"Me too," said Rainstorm quickly. "And, er... if you _are _speaking to me again, I'd like to tell you something... And it's not that I love you!" she mewed quickly. "I'm... I'm sorry, Greenfrost... but I just _don't _love you... You're my friend, and I just think of you as a friend..."

"Okay." Greenfrost's eyes were still carefully guarded, but his voice had lost the cold edge that Rainstorm hated so much.

"I still need to talk to you," Rainstorm told him. She slipped out of camp, and Greenfrost followed.

***

"Okay, Rainstorm, I'm so sorry!"

"Huh?" Rainstorm was taken aback. She had forgotten that Greenfrost could be something other than an emotionless… _thing_, and she had certainly never seen him trembling at the knees, sadness leaving him in waves.

"I overreacted the other day, and that was really mousebrained," cried Greenfrost. "If you want to be with someone else, that's absolutely fine, and I'll just be your friend if that is what makes you happy."

"S-seriously?" Rainstorm was delighted that Greenfrost wanted to be her friend again. She could see he truly regretted their argument, but Rainstorm didn't know what to say about the other thing that was troubling her. "Umm, but... does that mean you'll stop trying to substitute Cindersky for me?"

"Ah." Greenfrost looked uncomfortable. "About that... you know, me and Cindersky have become pretty close friends in the past couple of days, and I can't just _dump_ her for you... Couldn't we all just be friends?"

"No," said Rainstorm flatly. "I'm sorry, Greenfrost. I'm perfectly happy to be your friend, but I cannot act in a friendly way towards that crowfood-eating piece of foxdung!"

"R-Rainstorm? Why do you hate her so much?"

"Because she hates me, Greenfrost. And I don't know why. On our first day of hunting together, she tripped me so she would get the piece of prey."

"Oh..." Greenfrost looked crestfallen. "Well, she's really nice when I'm around..."

Rainstorm decided to drop the subject, and instead tell Greenfrost what she was going to tell him. She took a breath. "Okay, Greenfrost? I'm going to tell you who I'm in love with."

"You are? How come?" he asked, surprised.

"Because I trust you." she replied simply. "And I believe you won't give it away."

Greenfrost said nothing, his eyes brimming with gratitude. "Thank you, Rainstorm. I don't deserve this, I know. I've been mousebrained. Worse than mousebrained."

"Don't be silly," Rainstorm teased. Then she said quietly, "Okay... Greenfrost? I... it's Foxpaw."

"Foxwhoit?" For a moment Greenfrost looked confused. Then realisation dawned on his face. "You... you fell in love outside of WindClan, didn't you?"

Rainstorm nodded silently.

"Oh, great..." Greenfrost groaned. "Trust you. Rainstorm, I am sorry to say this after what's happened recently, but you've got to stop seeing him."

"No!" mewed Rainstorm fiercely. "I've thought about it, and I've come to a decision. Greenfrost, I _can't _stop seeing him." Her yellow eyes grew soft. "I love him."

Greenfrost sighed. "Rainstorm, I'm begging you!"

"Greenfrost, I can't!"

"I see." Greenfrost blinked. "I understand I can't persuade you. Don't worry, I won't give away your secret."

Rainstorm smiled. She had won back Greenfrost's friendship.

Her only worry was Cindersky's reaction.

***

"Cindersky, we need to talk."

Rainstorm had cornered the orange warrior as soon as she and Greenfrost had returned to camp.

"I don't need to talk to-"

"Yes, you do," Rainstorm mewed purposefully, before she could finish her sentence. She bent down and grabbed Cindersky by the scruff of the neck.

"Hey!" yowled Cindersky. "Put me down, mousedung!"

Rainstorm couldn't say anything through a mouthful of fur, but she shook her head and half carried, half dragged Cindersky out of camp.

***

"_What_?" Cindersky spat, shaking free of Rainstorm's grasp.

"I've made friends with Greenfrost."

"So? Why should I care?" hissed Cindersky, though Rainstorm caught a glint of something in her eyes. Was it... _fear_?

"Oh, no reason..." Rainstorm gazed over the hilltops towards the lakes. "I was just wondering... how would that make you feel?"

Cindersky said nothing for a moment, her jaw rigid. Rainstorm stared at her green eyes.

"Okay!" yowled Cindersky suddenly. "I'm jealous, okay? Greenfrost's just so _great_... and he wastes his time padding after _you_!"

"Huh?" Rainstorm was bewildered. She had thought that Cindersky had just been trying to make her unhappy, but she never thought that she might have feelings for Greenfrost. "You... you _love _Greenfrost?"

"No!" snapped Cindersky, far too quickly. But when Rainstorm looked at her incredulously, she hung her head. "Yes," she admitted.

"Wow."

"Don't 'wow' me!" retorted Cindersky. "You don't even love him! But it's just Rainstorm this and Rainstorm that, and..." She sank to the ground and stared at Rainstorm hopelessly. "I don't even know why I'm telling _you_ this, of all cats."

Rainstorm's head was spinning again. She didn't know what to do with the current situation, but she could reassure Cindersky on one point.

"I spoke to Greenfrost today." _Well, more like he broke down, _she thought, but she didn't say it out loud. "He said… he's happy to just be my friend." "And... he said he didn't want to give up being your friend."

"R-really?"

"Yup," nodded Rainstorm. "I reckon you should tell him how you feel."

"Oh, no." Cindersky looked terrified at the prospect. "I couldn't."

Rainstorm felt a little flicker of irritation, but she pushed it away, remembering how she had felt towards Foxpaw. "Well, then, you should just be friends, and see if _he_ feels the same way."

"Okay." Cindersky got up and turned to head back to camp. When she was almost out of sight, she turned, and smiled timidly. "And, Rainstorm? Thanks."

Rainstorm smiled as the tip of her tail disappeared. They wouldn't ever be friends - their rivalry had sunk too deep - but maybe they wouldn't be deadly enemies anymore.


	21. No Longer A Threat

**DISCLAIMER: [insert random/witty comment that means I don't own Warriors here]**

No Longer a Threat

"Rainstorm!" Ashstar was striding towards the young black warrior. "Just to tell you, you'll be going to the Gathering tonight. So will all the new warriors."

"Okay, Ashstar. Thanks, Ashstar," Rainstorm replied. Another Gathering already! So much had happened in the last moon.

_Let's see... I met Mist, travelled to the mountains, met the Tribe, fulfilled a prophecy, fell in love, and made up with my worst enemy,_ she thought, inwardly purring. _Quite a lot._

***

The grey WindClan leader flicked his tail, signalling the other cats into the clearing. Rainstorm, Greenfrost, and the other WindClan cats spilled onto the island.

Scents mingled in Rainstorm's nose - WindClan was the last Clan to arrive. Before Ashstar could leap onto the Great Oak with the other leaders, Rainstorm swiftly weaved her way through the assorted cats and finally spotted the creamy brown pelt of the cat she loved most.

"Foxpaw!" she purred, butting him on the shoulder.

"Rainpaw!" he purred back, rasping his tongue over her ears. A silver tabby was staring at him in disapproval, and he quickly licked his own paw. Rainstorm self-consciously licked her chest.

"By the way, I'm a warrior now," Rainstorm and Foxpaw both mewed at the same time. They laughed.

"I'm Rainstorm now," Rainstorm re-introduced herself.

"Wow, really? I'm Foxbramble."

He was silenced by a yowl from the Great Oak. They both looked up to see Ashstar beginning to speak.

"Bramblestar, we made an agreement to postpone our meeting until now," mewed Ashstar. "Will you make peace with WindClan? We have no wish for shed blood."

Bramblestar dipped his head. "Yes. There is no need for blood to be spilt over such a trivial matter. Besides," he added, "the Tribe cat has returned to the mountains now. It is no longer a threat."

Cloudstar and Mothstar let this pass without comment.

"Other than that, WindClan has five new warriors."

Mews of surprise came from the crowd. It was unusual for five warriors to be named at one time.

"Five? Quite impressive, Ashstar," Mothstar mewed. Ashstar nodded.

"Cindersky, Branchfoot, Bluestone, Rainstorm, and Greenfrost are all here tonight."

Rainstorm glowed when her name was said, although she felt rather uncomfortable when every cat turned to stare at her and the other new warriors.

"We have new warriors too," Bramblestar quickly put in. "Foxbramble is here, and Wildpoppy sits vigil in the camp tonight."

Foxbramble puffed out his chest proudly. The other new RiverClan warrior, Wildpoppy, was not there, so obviously Foxbramble got full attention from the crowd.

Cloudstar stepped forward. "ShadowClan have little to report," he mewed. "We found three cats on our territory, but I understand that was part of the _journey_," he sneered the word, "that seems to now be legend."

Rainstorm bristled with annoyance. "He makes it sound like a bad thing!" he whispered to Foxbramble. The RiverClan tom nodded, but shushed her as Mothstar began to speak.

"We also have little news that every cat needs to hear," she mewed. "Three kits were born - Molekit, Onekit, and Brownkit. That is all."

The leaders jumped lightly off the great oak and signalled to their Clans, but Rainstorm looked at Mothstar closely. She seemed thin - thinner than usual. In fact, _all_ of the ThunderClan cats were remarkably skinny. Their patchy pelts clung tightly to their easily visible ribs.

Rainstorm remembered Mothstar's words; _we have little news that every cat needs to hear. _Of course! Mothstar was too proud to admit that her Clan was starving, but she would never lie. Little that every cat needed to hear... Rainstorm started in alarm. The three kits that Mothstar had mentioned...

If ThunderClan wasn't getting enough food, then the kits' mother wouldn't get enough. If the queen didn't get enough food, she wouldn't produce a substantial supply of milk. Which meant...

"Newborn kits could die because of Mothstar's pride!"


	22. Freshkill

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Warriors. I just toy with the characters, and occasionally make them attack each other.**

Freshkill

"What's that?" murmured Foxbramble, puzzled. Rainstorm shook her head.

"Stay here," she told him.

"But I-"

"Stay here!"

She left a confused Foxbramble on the island and crossed the branch which joined the lake to the shoreline. She forgot about her fear of falling into the lake, and kept her eyes firmly fixed on the thin ThunderClan leader.

Rainstorm, not checking where she was stepping, lost her footing halfway across the tree. A loud yowl and a splash, and Rainstorm felt the freezing lake water seep through her thin pelt.

Gulping lungfuls of air whenever she could, Rainstorm desperately tried to lash out towards the shoreline.

_I'm drowning!_ Rainpaw thought, terrified. _StarClan, save me!_

Suddenly, she saw a flash of starlight on water, and smelt a familiar scent.

"Come on, Rainstorm," whispered a voice. "It's only a bit of water."

Rainstorm stopped thrashing, her eyes wide. She would recognise that voice anywhere.

"Stormcloud?"

"In a heartbeat," Stormcloud whispered. "Take calm, quiet strokes. Act like you're walking. Put one paw forward... now the other one..."

Rainstorm slowly stretched out her paw through the thick, black water. She took another 'step' forward and smiled.

"Thanks, Stormcloud."

At that moment there was a loud _splash_ behind her.

"Rainstorm, what in StarClan's name are you doning in here?"

"I fell," Rainstorm admitted. Foxbramble snorted in amusement and paddled steadily through the water, grabbing her scruff and pulling her to safety.

The black she-cat shook out her soaked pelt and shivered in the cold night air. She smiled gratefully at the RiverClan cat she loved.

"Foxbramble, thanks."

"Don't mention it," he answered gruffly. "Now, would you mind telling me _why _you were following Mothstar?"

Rainstorm decided to tell the truth. "Mothstar was lying at the Gathering," she explained quickly. "I don't think ThunderClan are getting enough fresh-kill. The kits might die! I won't let that happen."

She waited for Foxbramble to tell her she was crazy, or not to get caught up in another Clan's problems, but to her surprise he nodded. "I love you," he mewed. "So I will help you, no matter what."

Rainstorm smiled gratefully. "Thank you."

***

The pair rushed into ThunderClan territory, Rainstorm cursing the undergrowth that she hated so much.

Slowing down, Foxbramble mewed, "Look at this."

He pointed his tail to a fat mouse that was watching the two cats with fearful eyes. It quickly dashed back into the undergrowth, snuffling through the leaves.

"That mouse looks okay to me..." the RiverClan cat mewed slowly. Rainstorm nodded.

"Odd..."

"So what are we going to do?" asked Foxbramble.

"Let's go to their camp," Rainstorm suggested. Alarm flared in Foxbramble's eyes momentarily - but his voice was steady.

"Okay."

***

Rainstorm lay flat on her belly and wriggled to the edge of the sheer cliff that surrounded the ThunderClan camp. She peered down through a bramble bush. The camp was abuzz with activity, although it was way after moonhigh. Narrowing her eyes, Rainstorm strained to hear what was going on.

The stench of sickness was in the air.

"Cats of ThunderClan!" Mothstar yowled. "None of the other Clans guessed what was happening. I did not tell them."

"What?" cried a brown tabby tom. His eyes were a piercing yellow. "But... Mothstar... I can't heal every cat on my own! Cats are dying from the disease that this prey is giving us!"

Mothstar turned to the cat with sorrowful eyes. "Do StarClan really want ThunderClan to suffer this much, Hawkeyes?"

"I cannot say," Hawkeyes replied solemnly. Suddenly, there was a terrible, high-pitched wail from a one of the dens. Hawkeyes turned to it in horror.

"No!" he cried.

"What is it?" asked a golden brown cat.

"Onekit… is dead."

"He can't be!" whispered a dark brown she-cat fiercely. Rainstorm guessed she was the kits' mother. She hurried inside the medicine cat's den. "Wake up, Onekit, please..."

Rainstorm turned to her companion.

"That's one of the newborn kits that was mentioned at the Gathering!" she whispered, her eyes wide. Foxbramble briefly shut his eyes in grief.

Some of the ThunderClan cats were turning on Mothstar in their rage.

"Mothstar, this is all your fault!"

"The Twolegs are poisoning our prey!"

"You won't ask for help, even for the sake of kits?"

Mothstar shut her eyes. She looked worn and defeated. "I understand your concern," she began slowly. "Tomorrow we will send a patrol to ShadowClan, RiverClan, and WindClan. The time has come for us to beg for help."

The ThunderClan leader padded into her den on top of the Highledge. The other cats dispersed, heading into dens or padding away to share tongues.

Every cat avoided the fresh-kill pile.


	23. Not So Proud

**DISCLAIMER: **

**That's invisible for 'I don't own Warriors'.**

Not So Proud

"What'll we do?" hissed Foxbramble.

"What do you think?" Rainstorm whispered back. "Onekit's already dead. If the kits are as young as Mothstar said at the Gathering, his littermates will be unlikely to last the night."

"You're right." Foxbramble nodded. "We can't wait for the patrol."

"Let's go and get Sunspot and Featherflight."

"Ahhh..." Foxbramble dithered. "It would look a bit suspicious if I burst into your camp uninvited..."

"Invited by me!"

"A very young warrior," Foxbramble reminded her. "Besides, I could go and fetch Whitefur and Brackenpaw if we split up. Five medicine cats will be better than three."

"True." Rainstorm pressed her muzzle to Foxbramble's.

"Be careful. You can be so reckless."

"Me, reckless?" Rainstorm narrowed her eyes, pretending to be outraged. "Never!"

Foxbramble purred with amusement.

Carefully, the two cats exited ThunderClan territory.

"Ahhh..." Rainstorm breathed in the fresh, heather-tinged WindClan scent. "My camp's this way." She gestured with her muzzle.

"I'll keep close to the lake, I think," Foxbramble mewed. He twined his tail with Rainstorm's.

"This has happened before, right?" Rainstorm grinned.

"Only it's moonhigh this time."

"Yes..." Rainstorm's flank brushed against Foxbramble's as she started to pad away. When Foxbramble was nearly out of sight, she stopped.

"I love you," she mewed.

"I love you too," he meowed back.

"Forever?"

"Forever."

***

"Sunspot!" Rainstorm gasped, ignoring the thorns that pricked her pelt.

"What? What?" asked the golden she-cat.

"ThunderClan... illness..." panted Rainstorm, out of breath from running so swiftly. "Onekit... dead... Hawkeyes... needs help!"

"Hawkeyes?" There was concern in Sunspot's green eyes. Rainstorm was glad she forgot the 'why were you out of camp without permission?' routine. She wasn't a wayward apprentice anymore.

"Featherflight!" Sunspot called, swiping up a jawful of herbs.

"Yes?" the ginger she-cat looked over from the fresh-kill pile.

Sunspot explained the situation through the mouthful of herbs. Featherflight rose to her paws, prey forgotten.

"We have to help," she announced gravely.

The three she-cats sped across WindClan territory. Featherflight stopped abruptly at the borderline.

"Are you _sure _we're allowed past here?" she asked awkwardly. "We're not protected by the full moon truce, and we're not going to the Moonpool."

"We're on a medicine cat mission," Rainstorm mewed determinedly. "Medicine cats aren't bound by the usual laws."

Looking reassured, Featherflight agreed to press onwards.

Rainstorm led the way to the ThunderClan camp. She soon found the way to the symmetrical stone hollow, and wondered how she was to get down.

"I think this is the only way," she mewed doubtfully, pawing the air and preparing to slip down.

Rainstorm gave a yowl of fear as she toppled off the sheer sided cliff. She heard two more yowls as Sunspot and Featherflight followed her lead.

"What the-" Mothstar hurried out of her den. "Enemy warriors in my territory?"

Rainstorm braced herself, but the ThunderClan leader let her fur lie flat. "I don't care anymore," she said wearily. "Two of you are medicine cats. Please, help my Clan."

"Of course," mumbled Sunspot through a mouthful of herbs, wincing slightly as she got up. A brown tabby tom, Hawkeyes, hurried over to them.

"Sunspot? Featherflight?" he mewed in amazement. He looked at their bruises and gave a wry smile. "You did a Squirrelflight, didn't you?"

"A Squirrelwho?"

"Squirrelflight. When she found this place, she was chasing a vole, and she just charged off the cliff. Whenever some cat does that, we call it a Squirrelflight."

"We don't have time for chatter!" cried a brown she-cat - Onekit's mother. "My kits... my kits are dying..."

"Yes, of course, Longfoot," Hawkeyes nodded. He turned to Featherflight, and mewed in a low voice, "Can you try to get her to eat something? She's grieving too much for Onekit... she should be asleep, or caring for Molekit and Brownkit."

"Got it." Featherflight took some of the herbs that Sunspot had brought, and led Longfoot back to the nursery.

"And Sunspot," Hawkeyes turned to the WindClan cat, "could you-"

He was cut of by the sound of heavy paws pounding on the ground. Suddenly, four cats - Foxbramble, a white cat who Rainstorm guessed was Whitefur, a golden coloured tom who Rainstorm guessed was Brackenpaw, and a pale grey tom who smelt of ShadowClan - burst into the camp.

"We're medicine cats," Whitefur explained quickly. "Just tell us what we need to do."

Hawkeyes looked thoroughly relieved at all the medicine cats, and set them to work at once.

"Who's the grey tom?" Rainstorm asked Foxbramble.

"Foxleaf, the ShadowClan medicine cat. We met him at the border, gathering herbs," Foxbramble explained. "He said his Clan can spare him for one night."

"That's good!" Rainstorm explained. "One - two - three - four - five - six medicine cats!"

"Hey, you can help too," Hawkeyes added, passing the two warriors. "Can you tend to Patchfoot? He has a fever, you might want to use this - borage leaf."

"Thanks." Rainstorm gingerly grasped the bitter-tasting leaf in her jaws and hurried over to a tortoiseshell tom.

"Hi, I'm Rainstorm," she mewed to the groaning tom. "Here - swallow this."

"Rainstorm?" groaned Patchfoot. "But you're a WindClan cat!" Rainstorm was about to protest, but the ThunderClan tom shook his head. "To be frank, I don't actually care. Just give me the StarClan-accursed stuff."

Rainstorm nodded and he swallowed the herb.

"Give some to Thistlekit now," he coughed.

"I'll watch him," Foxbramble assured her.

Rainstorm hurried over to the smoky grey kit. "Hey, Thistlekit. Can you eat this for me?"

"You smell yucky!" complained the little kit, but after a little persuasion, he ate the herb anyway. He promptly spat it out. "It's bitter!"

"When you're a warrior, you'll have to face a lot more than yucky herbs!" Rainstorm mewed convincingly. "Think of this as practice."

Thistlekit nodded, excitement kindling in his tiny eyes. "Okay!" He ate the herbs, and swallowed them, shuddering. "Thank you," he mewed in a small voice.

Rainstorm hurried to the next cat, picking up more herbs from Hawkeyes occasionally. She hoped that she was saving some lives.

"There _has_ to be four Clans!" she muttered.


	24. Silver

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Warriors... yet. =evil laugh=**

Silver

Thistlekit coughed feebly. Rainstorm looked over at him anxiously. He was better since he had the herbs, but he was still weak.

"Foxbramble..." she murmured. "Some cats aren't going to make it..."

"I know," Foxbramble admitted. "But we have to keep fighting, for ThunderClan's sake."

Rainstorm nodded, then looked around as she spotted the grey ShadowClan medicine cat heading towards them.

"I'm glad I caught you," he mewed. "You're the two warriors, right?" When they both nodded, he went on, "Good, well, Mothstar was wondering if you could go to try and find out what's tainting the prey."

"Can't she use her own warriors?" asked Foxbramble.

"They're all too weak, except Shadestorm. She can come with you."

"Just my luck," Rainstorm muttered, remembering the pushy tabby she-cat.

"Hmm?"

"I said, wish us luck!" she hastily edited.

"Good luck. You'll need it."

***

"I thought we should check out the halfbridge first," Rainstorm suggested.

"Why there?" asked Shadestorm. Rainstorm gritted her teeth.

"Because that's where Twolegs are," Foxbramble explained calmly. Shadestorm spat, annoyed at Foxbramble's logic.

Every time a twig snapped under Rainstorm's paws, she jumped. She was going to save a Clan - a Clan that wasn't even her own! But StarClan couldn't disapprove of helping a Clan in need, could they?

"Twolegs," Shadestorm spat suddenly, breaking into Rainstorm's thoughts. She opened her jaws, and caught a reek of Twolegs.

Approaching the halfbridge, Rainstorm suddenly darted out of the trees and started padding over to some rowdy Twoleg kits.

"Mousebrain!" hissed Foxbramble in alarm. Rainstorm flicked her tail at him. She had a plan.

Screwing up all her courage, she walked over to the group of Twolegs, somehow conjuring up a purr. One of the Twolegs starting waddling towards her. Rainstorm rubbed herself against its legs.

She let the small Twoleg pick her up with its pink, pudgy paws, hoping that Shadowstorm and Foxbramble would understand what she wanted them to do. Her purr became less forced as she caught a glimpse of a creamy brown and a black-and-brown tabby shape.

Trying to overcome the stench, Rainstorm let three Twolegs hold and pet her before she could bear it no longer. She tried to wriggle out of the Twoleg's firm grasp, but to no avail.

_Sorry!_ She unsheathed her claws and swiped at the Twoleg. The Twoleg gave a yowl of surprise and slackened its grip. Rainstorm jumped away and dashed towards the two distinctive pelts.

"Foxbramble!" she gasped, crashing into him.

"Slow down, mousebrain!" he yelped, shaking himself. "We found the poison!"

"You did?" cried Rainstorm. "That's great news!"

"Well, kind of..." Shadestorm looked doubtful.

"Why kind of?"

"Well, we don't know how to get rid of it," Foxbramble explained. "It's a big pool of silver, shimmery Twoleg stuff. And it smells foul."

"There was a rabbit carcass next to it."

Rainstorm wrinkled her nose.

"I... I do have one idea..." Foxbramble volunteered slowly. "But... it would mean risking our lives..."

"Tell us," Shadestorm ordered.

"Okay..." mewed Foxbramble. "We could roll in mud... then in the silver stuff. Then the mud will absorb some of it. We can then shake the mud off, but then... we'll have to lick off the rest of the silver stuff."

"But that could ultimately kill us!" cried Rainstorm. Foxbramble met her gaze levelly.

"Yes, I know."

His amber eyes strengthened Rainstorm more than any herb ever could. She nodded. "Let's do it."

The three cats rolled in a sticky patch of mud, then, jaws clamped tightly shut, in the silvery stuff. Rainstorm winced as the mud coated her thin fur. Once the other two had finished, the silver stuff was all on the pelts of the three cats. No more prey would be tainted by it.

Standing away from the other two, Rainstorm shook her pelt vigorously. Then she noticed the lake.

Rainstorm never thought she would be voluntarily taking a dip, but even so, she let the water wash off all of the mud. When she emerged, there was still silver on her pelt. Knowing that there was no choice, she began swiftly grooming herself.

"Rainstorm!"

The black she-cat looked up to see Featherflight racing towards them, a shocked expression on her face.

"What are you doing that for?" she asked, horrified.

"It's tainting ThunderClan's prey," explained Rainstorm "and this is the only way to get rid of it."

"But you could _kill_ yourself!" cried Featherflight. Then she shook her head. "Never mind that! Eat this - now!"

She shoved some sort of herb at Rainstorm, who obediently ate it.

"I-is it supposed to make me feel-" Rainstorm was cut short as she threw up.

"Yes." Featherflight's mew was taut as she handed out the yarrow to Foxbramble and Shadestorm. "It's yarrow. It'll expel the poison - I hope."

"Good." Rainstorm kept up the alternate licking and eating the yarrow until the silver stuff was all gone. Foxbramble and Shadestorm copied her.

"Now all the poison is gone," Shadestorm groaned. "Now all that's left to do is... heal the sick cats..."

"Yes, and you'll be first in line," Featherflight mewed firmly. "Shadestorm, you didn't eat as much yarrow as the others. You're still not looking too good..."

"I'm fine..." Shadestorm groaned and sank to the ground.

"No, you're not." Featherflight looked worried. "Come on, have some more-"

Her words were cut off as she gasped. Shadestorm started convulsing weakly. The rise and fall of her flank was fast and shallow.

"Shadestorm!" Rainstorm forgot the foul taste in her mouth as she tried desperately to help the sick cat.

"You can't do anything," Shadestorm rasped.

"Are you sure? I think you might need some water..."

But she trailed off as Shadestorm heaved one last breath. The light in her pale blue eyes dimmed.

Shadestorm was dead.


	25. Epilogue

**DISCLAIMER: I own Warriors, I own Warriors not, I own Warriors, I own Warriors not... darn it!**

Epilogue

"Let's go, then, Rainstorm!" called Sunspot.

"Okay, coming!" Rainstorm called back.

It was just before dawn. The sickness had all but gone from ThunderClan, and Hawkeyes had said that he could deal with the rest, so all the non-ThunderClan cats were leaving.

"Foxbramble... goodbye." Rainstorm swiftly brushed her flank against Foxbramble's, then hurried to join Sunspot and Featherflight.

"The thanks of the Clan go with you." Mothstar dipped her head as the WindClan cats left.

The trees whispered Foxbramble's goodbye into Rainstorm's ears. She sighed, but she had no time to dwell on that now. She knew that she had divided loyalties, and if the time came to choose between her Clan and Foxbramble... the black she-cat shuddered.

"Anything wrong?" asked Featherflight, looking concerned.

"Nothing!" mewed Rainstorm quickly. "I guess I just want to get home..."

"Mmm..." replied Featherflight. "ThunderClan are nice cats, but I could _never_ live somewhere so cooped up."

Presently they reached the moor. Rainstorm could almost feel the energy surging through her paws. She grinned at Featherflight.

"I'll race you."

***

The three WindClan cats burst into camp, out of breath, but happiness sparking in their eyes. They were home.

"Safe journey?" The cats turned at Ashstar's voice. Rainstorm braced herself for a flurry of anger, but the WindClan leader's gaze was warm. "Don't worry, I know that ThunderClan were being threatened. I don't begrudge you going to help them. There must be four Clans."

"Must be..." echoed Rainstorm.

"Rainstorm, you're back!" Greenfrost's voice echoed around the camp. Rainstorm purred as she saw her friend.

She had her friends. She had her Clan. And she had Foxbramble... If StarClan was kind, she would never have to choose between them.

And as the sun rose from behind the trees, Rainstorm felt that no sunrise had ever been brighter.

**Great _StarClan_, that took forever. But it's worth it, 'cause the dialogue is far, _far_ better than it was. Yes, I realise that the plot is still dreadfully clichéd and that Rainstorm is a bit of a Mary Sue - but, hey, at least there are no spelling or grammar mistakes.**


End file.
